


and they were roommates! (oh my god they were roommates)

by vices_and_virtues



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Family Dynamics, Gen, Slow Burn, four girls falling in love but in the friend way
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:33:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 56,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22645714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vices_and_virtues/pseuds/vices_and_virtues
Summary: As far as Rhaenys Martell-Targaryen was concerned, her family consisted of her, her little brother, her mother, and her mother's long term boyfriend. She was close with her cousins, loved her grandmother and same-aged aunt, and was as cordial as she could manage with her half-brother, the product of her father's infidelity.And then she found out that her half-brother's cousin's foster brother was the full brother of her new roommate, and that their mostly deteriorated, utterly dysfunctional relationship put her own complicated family situation to shame.Add in her best friend's budding relationship disturbingly similar to the one that had destroyed her life nearly twenty years ago, and her cousin's side hustle going viral right before their very eyes, and Rhaenys's final year at King's Landing University was shaping up to be one that would change all of their lives forever.
Relationships: Aegon Targaryen (Son of Elia) & Rhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Elia), Asha Greyjoy & Theon Greyjoy, Asha Greyjoy/Arianne Martell, Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, Jon Snow & Rhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Elia), Rhaenys Targaryen & Arianne Martell & Brienne of Tarth & Asha Greyjoy, Robb Stark/Rhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Elia)
Comments: 123
Kudos: 91





	1. Nice to Meet You!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SydneyLouWho](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SydneyLouWho/gifts).



_Monday, August 17th  
5:45 AM_

Leaving Sunspear was always hard. 

It was 5:45 in the morning, and Rhaenys Martell-Targaryen stood in her driveway, clutching Balerion’s carrier in one hand as her mother’s boyfriend reached out hug her tightly. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he whispered in her ear. “Promise?”

“I feel like that’s a pretty short list.”

Arthur laughed. “Fair point, sweetling.” He kissed her cheek, and gave her one last squeeze. “Have a good time. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said, breathing in his familiar smell of aftershave and laundry detergent. “I’ll try to be back for Thanksgiving.”

Her hair was bunched up in a knot at the top of her head so he couldn’t muss it like he usually would, so he settled for tucking a stray curl behind her ear instead, before moving on to squeeze Aegon around the shoulders and give her mother a kiss. “Drive safe. I love you.”

“I love you. I’ll call once we arrive.” Her mother turned toward her. “You have everything, Rhae? You’re sure?”

Rhaenys looked back at her house and pictured her room in her mind’s eye, its sunny yellow walls covered in years worth of art and posters, shelves decorated with every stuffed animal she’d ever received in her life, her bed neatly made in the center of it all, the entire scene patiently waiting for her to come home again.

Her fourth year doing this, and somehow it never got easier.

“Yeah,” she said, turning back to face her little family, all watching her expectantly. “I’m ready.”

It was an eight hour drive to King’s Landing, Rhaenys and Elia leading the way in her Jeep with Aegon and Balerion close behind in the family SUV. And while Aegon no doubt spent most of his drive listening to podcasts, Rhaenys and her mother sang along to the radio and talked. They could never run out of things to talk about—it just didn’t happen. They could joke and laugh and chat for hours, and giving them that time uninterrupted was about the best thing to come out of these moves.

Well, there was _one_ interruption. They had to stop for lunch, after all.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they neared campus, and her mother went a little quiet, looking out the window at all the tall, stucco buildings with their distinctive red-tiled roofs. Rhaenys knew she was thinking of her own time here, when she lived in these very dorms and had lunch on that very lawn and walked these very sidewalks, arm in arm with— 

“Rhae,” her mother said suddenly. “I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve nearly been run over trying to dart across traffic because I was late for class.”

Rhaenys couldn’t help but laugh. “I know! You’ve tried!”

“I remember one time,” her mother went on, voice a little breathless because she was laughing too, “I was late for a final. I think it started at one and I had just left my room with maybe five minutes to get there. And you know, it’s the middle of the day and it’s finals week and I’m late, so of course campus is empty. So I take a puff on my inhaler like this, and I get as close to a run as I can manage. And just as I think I’m going to make it, I’ve got one more road to cross and I see a car.”

“Mom!” Rhaenys cried, though she’d heard this story before. “Tell me you stopped.” 

“Have you ever seen your mother run, Rhae? Of course I couldn’t stop, I didn’t know how. I step right into that road and I can still remember how that felt. I wasn’t scared, you know. The only thought in my head was _At least if I get hit by a car he_ **_has_ ** _to let me make up this exam_. And all the while, the car has stopped, I’m still moving, and before I know it I’m on the other side of the road, unscathed.”

“Seven hells, Mom.” Rhaenys hit the brakes a little hard and tapped the horn at the asshole she’d nearly rear ended. “I hope you got to take your final at least.”

“Oh, yes.” Her mother nodded sagely. “I was a sorry sight when I walked into that lecture hall. My professor took one look at the inhaler in my hand and told me to take a seat. I don’t remember how I did, though. Oh, we’re here.”

“We are!” Rhaenys pulled her phone off the dashboard and checked her messages. “Arianne texted me the code last night, let me… here!” After making sure Aegon was still behind her, she leaned out the window to punch it in, and watched as the gate to her new parking garage slowly swung open. “Yay!”

Her mother reached out to grasp her hand. “Yay!”

Classes wouldn’t start for another two weeks, but even so, the parking garage was fuller than she’d expected it to be. Finding a space near enough to the entrance wasn’t hard, though, and Aegon pulled in two spots over. Rhaenys killed the engine and hopped out.

“We’re here!” she shouted as her brother climbed out of the car. “Isn’t it nice?”

“Pretty nice,” Aegon agreed. “Didn’t you have to street park at your old apartment? Wonder how much more this one is costing you.”

“I’m breaking even,” she said smugly, skipping around to the passenger side of his car to get Balerion’s carrier out. “Since that one was furnished and this isn’t, and in this one I have three roommates instead of one over at the other place. Oh, and this one isn’t quite as close. Hello, Mr. Sir.” That last part was aimed inside the carrier, and she could just see her cat's little face peering out at her. “Did you have a nice nap? Or was Eggie driving like too much of a maniac for you to settle down?”

“Insult my driving again, I dare you,” Aegon said placidly, opening up the trunk and dragging the flatbed out. Over by the Jeep, her mother had already pulled out two suitcases and was working on easing out a large storage bin. Rhaenys hastily set down Balerion and rushed over.

“Ma! Stop, let me help you!”

* * *

Without Arthur, the move-in process was a little slow going, but he’d packed the cars so neatly, like a game of Tetris, that it was far easier to unload than she would’ve expected. And when Rhaenys saw the tool box in the well of her backseat and realized that without him she _definitely_ would have forgotten it, her heart swelled with love for her not-stepdad; she missed him so much already.

Most of the afternoon was spent building furniture; she and Aegon got into an argument while putting together her bed and it was her mother who figured out that the slats meant to hold up the mattress had been packaged separately, and swiftly retrieved them from the pile of boxes in the living room. The nightstand was also far harder to put together than it needed to be, and by the time they’ve finished with the dresser Rhaenys was almost wishing to be back in that small, two bedroom apartment with all the cheap ugly orangey-brown furniture that was impossible to match with anything. Almost.

They’d just finished putting her newly assembled desk against the wall when a shadow fell across the doorway and a familiar voice said, “I thought I recognized that orange monstrosity in the garage.”

“Arianne!” Rhaenys crossed the room in two strides to throw her arms around her cousin’s neck. “How was work?”

“Work.” Arianne hugged her quickly before just about _pushing_ her away and setting her sights on Elia. “Hi, Auntie.”

“Ari.” The embrace between her mother and cousin was warmer than the rushed one the two of them had shared. “You look so grown-up.”

“Thank-you.” Arianne smiled and smoothed the lapels of her blazer, her glossy red fingernails briefly fluttering over the bronze name tag that read _Arianne Martell, Admissions Staff_. “Thank the gods I had no tours today, so I didn’t have to wear that ugly polo.”

“Lucky you,” Aegon droned, hopping up on the desk; surprisingly, it held his weight, even though they'd lost a few screws. Arianne laughed.

“I think I missed you the least,” she said cheerfully, giving him a quick hug as well. “Why does school start so late in Braavos, anyway?”

“I don’t know, but they have the right idea. Later start, earlier end.”

“Only because you’ve got fewer holidays during the year,” Rhaenys said. Aegon considered this, then shrugged.

“I’ll take the longer summer. Not like I can come home for the long weekends anyway.”

Rhaenys frowned. Aegon’s voice and expression were carefully neutral, like he was only stating a fact, and he wasn’t looking at her either. She slid closer and lowered her voice. “Egg?”

He shrugged her off. Arianne and their mother had already lost interest in this conversation, and have gone back to discussing Arianne’s work at the admissions office. “Aegon,” she tried again, and spared a glance toward their mother, making sure her attention was fully on Arianne. “Dad's not still bothering you, is he?”

Aegon fixed her with a sulky look though his silver mop of hair, a far cry from the panic in his eyes when he’d video-called her in the middle of the day just six months ago. “No,” he hissed. “I was just _saying.”_

Rhaenys held out her pinky. “Promise?”

Wordlessly, her little brother wrapped his little finger around hers and then, after a moment, crossed his eyes at her. She stuck out her tongue. He cracked a smile.

“Now get off my desk before you break it,” she said brightly, trying to drag him off by the pinky. “Mom, Arianne, don’t you think we should take a break? Let’s get dinner.”

Arianne’s face lit up. “There’s a Norvoshi place downtown my boyfriend’s taken me to a few times. Very casual, you guys don’t even have to change. Just let me touch my lipstick up a little, I’ll be ready in two minutes.” With that, she zipped off.

Rhaenys would’ve been just as happy with pizza, but that worked too.

The rest of the evening went by in a hazy blur. The restaurant was fun and lively and they all ordered their fill, and they returned to the apartment to all gather in the living room, so Arianne could catch up on _Big Brother_. Rhaenys and her mother sat on the floor, assembling a shelf to go in the bathroom she and Brienne would share, while Arianne and Aegon sat above them on the couches, much more invested in the challenges going on on the TV than their companions could be bothered.

The shelf assembled, Rhaenys and her mother moved into her room on Elia’s insistence that they try to finish as much as they could before the day was done.

“Before you have to leave, you mean,” Rhaenys said. Her mother smiled and kissed her hair.

“Many hands make light work, sweetheart.”

By the time her bins were emptied and her suitcases unpacked, it was almost midnight. Her desk still looked like a mess and her closet wasn’t organized quite the way she liked it to be, but those were both problems she’d deal with tomorrow. In the moment though, her bed had never looked so inviting.

Elia went back out to the living room to send Arianne to sleep in her own bed and get Aegon properly settled on the couch (“ _After_ you brush your teeth. Ask Arianne if you can use her bathroom.”) while Rhaenys got her own night routine started.

By the time her mother returned, Rhaenys was happily burrowed beneath the covers and about _this_ close to sleepytown. Her mother crawled in next to her, and Rhaenys immediately snuggled closer.

“Send me a picture when you’re all finished up in here,” her mother wrapping her arms around her. “I’m sure it will be very pretty.”

“I will. When you get home, will you send me some pictures of your college rooms?”

“I’ve already sent them to you.”

“I know, but I have _so_ many pictures on my phone. It’s easier if you just send them to me again.”

“Easier for you, not me.”

“Hmph. And here I thought you loved me.”

Her mother’s soft, bell-like laugh made tears spring to Rhaenys’s eyes. “Oh, my baby girl,” Elia said, suddenly squeezing her tight. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

Rhaenys pressed the heel of her free hand to each of her eyes. “Don’t, Ma. Crying’s for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow. What am I going to do without you?”

 _What am I going to do without_ you _?_ she thought. But instead she said, “You’re going to have as many date nights with Arthur as you want, _without_ having to order for an extra dessert to-go for Egg and I to split.”

Her mother laughed again, the sound watery. “That _is_ pretty nice. If there was one downside to having you two home for the summer, it was that.”

Rhaenys huffed in faux annoyance. “No need to sound so elated, Mother.”

“Now you tell me, sweetheart.” Her mother ran a careful hand through her hair, slowly working through each curl. “What’s your silver lining when you’re away from home?”

“Easy. Having something other than Dornish Red to drink. Now you.”

“...at least when you’re gone I don’t have to remind you to clean your room.”

“What, that’s so mean! At least I don’t have to hear you tell me to clean my room.”

And back and forth they went, their answers spaced further and further apart, until Rhaenys fell asleep, wrapped in her mother’s arms.

* * *

The next morning, after a breakfast of tea and bagels they tried to stretch as long as possible, her mother and brother left. Rhaenys cried. Less than she had last year, and a lot less than she had the first year, but there were still tears. Of course.

When she got back up to the apartment, she heard Arianne’s shower running. Arianne, who loved her parents and brothers but hardly seemed fazed when she had to leave them behind. She’d only come home for a grand total of two weeks over the entire summer and barely seemed to mind.

And Brienne. She’d also spent most of the summer in King’s Landing away from her father, between summer classes and her training schedule. She’d only just gone home the week before, and she’d be right back to start fall practices by this weekend, and then classes would start back up and she wouldn’t get to see him again until Thanksgiving at the earliest.

Not to mention Sarella, who’d had an eight week internship at an archaeological dig in Shandystone. Even though she’d only been a little over an hour away at the southernmost tip of Dorne, she’d only been permitted leave once, midway through the term, and just for a single day at that.

Rhaenys couldn’t imagine having her precious summer months with her family just… gone. She couldn’t. She didn’t even want to think about it anymore.

Right then, she heard the shower stop, and after a few minutes, Arianne head into her bedroom. Rhaenys waited another minute or two before following. She knocked.

“Come in.” Rhaenys didn’t need to be told twice; she opened the door and immediately threw herself down on the bed.

Arianne was seated at her little vanity, which fit nicely in the space between the bed and the wall with the window and even had room to spare. She looked over at Rhaenys and continued to rub moisturizer into her face. “They’re gone?”

“Yeah.” She hugged a velvet throw pillow to her chest and curled up on her side. Arianne looked down at her a little longer before turning back to her reflection.

She’d always liked watching Arianne do her makeup. For Rhaenys, a full face of makeup meant concealer she’d rubbed in with her fingers, mascara, and some highlighter, because her cheekbones were her best feature. Maybe if she was feeling really fancy, she’d take the time to add eyeliner and some color to her lips, but most days she didn’t even bother with makeup at all. She barely left home with enough time as it was.

Not Arianne though. As beautiful as she was, she still wore a real full face most days, for no other reason than that she liked it. It was a trip and a half watching her do regular stuff Rhaenys understood, like covering up acne scars, and things she wouldn’t even dare attempt, like actual _contouring_. By the end of it all she was still very recognizably Arianne, just… elevated.

Still, as fascinating as it was to watch, Arianne’s makeup took too long for her to remain entirely engrossed, and her eyes began to wander. She’d spent a lot of time in this room over the last year, and it felt more familiar than her own did at the moment. The Norvoshi tapestry, a heavy gold mirror propped up in the corner, pictures on nearly every surface from her dresser to her nightstand to her desk—wait.

“Don't tell me you threw your desk out already," Rhaenys said, only half joking. "Where'd it go?"

“Hm?” Arianne, in the middle of lining her lips, paused just enough to say, “Oh. I moved it.”

“Moved it where?”

She selected her lipstick, a very mature shade of mauve. After carefully painting it on, she leaned back in her chair and studied her reflection, shaking out her hair and turning her head this way and that. “That other bedroom.”

Rhaenys blinked, not understanding. “But why would you do that? You’re just gonna have to move it back.”

“Well,” Arianne said delicately, finally looking at her out of the corner of her eye. “I never found another roommate. And since I’m starting business school, I decided having an office would be a worthwhile expense. Don’t worry, I’m picking up the slack on the rent.”

She had to see this for herself. Rhaenys pushed herself off the bed, marched down the hall to what was once Tyene's room, still unaccounted for, and flung open the door. There was Arianne’s desk all right, along with a lot of other shit that definitely had nothing to do with school.

“Office, my ass,” she said when she saw the clothing rack. “This is your spare closet.”

“Well, it’s not like I have classes right _now_.” Arianne reached out and pulled the door closed again. “What else was I supposed to do, let it sit empty for a roommate I can’t find?”

“But this is a great place to live,” Rhaenys insisted. “We’ve got parking, we’re right on the bus route, and we’re practically top of campus. And this is a four bedroom, our rent is cheap as hell between us. Somehow, I find it hard to believe that you just couldn’t _find_ another roommate for this prime real estate.”

Arianne sighed deeply, that familiar line of irritation forming between her brows. It was a look Rhaenys had seen many, many times growing up, starting at about the time she and Sarella got to be too old for tagging along to still be cute. “Rhaenys—”

“Don’t use that voice with me, like you’re talking to a baby. It’s going to start a fight, and we can’t live together if we’re going to fight.” 

That seemed to startle a laugh out of Arianne, and just like that the tension was gone. “You’re my baby cousin,” she cooed. “Of course we’re going to fight. It’s in our blood.”

“I just don’t think it’s fair for Brienne to have to mediate all on her own. She was expecting an ally.”

Arianne marched forward and reached out to pull the door shut. “Think about me for a second,” she said. “I really wanted to get my own apartment after graduation. But then I realized, I can’t have it both ways; either I lose out on this 'prime real estate,' as you so eloquently put it, or I pay out of the ass to keep all these lovely amenities. This way, I’m _still_ saving money and I don’t even have to move. It just makes sense.”

“But—”

“And think about you! Between work and class I won’t be here too much. Brienne’s got class, practice, and all those away games, so she’ll be gone all the time too. So with just three of us, really it’s almost like you’ve got the whole apartment to yourself. Would you really want to risk all that guaranteed privacy for a wildcard roommate? I wouldn’t.”

“I’m not you—” 

" _And_ our freezer just doesn’t have the space to accommodate four people using it,” Arianne finished, in her bossy _you'd-better-not-say-another-word-if-you-like-having-teeth_ voice, another old holdover from when they were kids. “Now if you don’t mind, I have to finish getting ready for work. I’ll see you later.”

With that, she turned on her heel, marched herself back to her room, and let the door shut with a resounding click behind her. A second later, it opened again.

“Forgot my navy blazer was in here,” she said as she scooted past Rhaenys into what was definitely just her second closet. “Pardon me.”

Then she returned to her room, blazer acquired, and shut the door behind her again.

Well.

* * *

After Arianne left for work and Rhaenys had flicked through enough channels to determine there was absolutely nothing to watch, not even a soap opera, she decided to go grocery shopping. She still wasn’t really in the mood to finish her room, and while she knew her cousin didn’t mind sharing in the meantime, the sooner Rhaenys started to contribute to the kitchen spread, the better.

Not to mention Arianne had what was the most pathetic excuse for a sweet tooth known to man. Oranges and a glass of summerwine, with maybe a single square of dark chocolate, was her idea of a good time. Just another thing they didn’t have in common.

Humming the latest pop radio hit, Rhaenys skipped down to the garage, hopped in her car, and started the engine. Then she paused; her tire pressure light was on. She tried restarting the engine to see if it was a fluke. The orange light blinked on again, and stared up at her stubbornly.

“Huh,” she said aloud, surprised. Well, it was a lucky thing the parking garage had a tire inflation station. Having real amenities was so sweet.

She drove over to the station, scrounged up all her change, and with her parking brake on, checked each tire. According to the guide, three of her tires were fine; it was her front driver’s side tire that had the problem. She refilled it slowly, careful not to over-inflate, just like Arthur had shown her. Once she was satisfied, she climbed back inside and was pleased to find the light had gone off. 

Until she was halfway to the supermarket, when that stupid light blinked on again.

“Shit,” she muttered, pulling over into the nearest shopping center and just staring at it. Either she wasn’t as smart as she thought she was and had overinflated the tire anyway, or she had a leak. Both were bad.

She considered pulling over to find a gas station to try again at, but she could hear Arthur’s voice warning her not to be stupid about this. _If you don’t know what the problem is, don’t waste time trying to figure it out yourself. Just find a mechanic._

She really didn’t want to waste her morning at the mechanic, but a blown out tire was even worse and would surely result in an even bigger pain in the ass; in theory she knew how to change a tire, but that didn't mean she _wanted_ to. Groaning, she pulled up the address of her mechanic, and changed course.

Rhaenys did as much of her major maintenance as she could manage at her family’s mechanic in Sunspear. But when unexpected things happened, like her air conditioning crapping out on her or that time she’d driven over the biggest pothole of her life and caused an oil leak that left her car in the shop for three days, King’s Landing had a nice family owned place called Seaworth & Sons Automotive Center that got all of her business.

It was barely ten o’clock when she pulled in, and outside the storefront was a girl about her age, wearing the Seaworth gray coveralls and just about _yelling_ into her cell phone. As Rhaenys approached, she caught the phrases “that goddamn shoebox I live in,” “fucking condemned,” and “I don’t know what the _fuck_ I’m going to do, Qarl.”

_Oh._

As Rhaenys got even closer, the girl finally noticed her, and swiftly rounded the corner, taking the rest of the conversation with her. Not like it mattered though; she'd definitely heard enough.

Inside, the waiting room wasn't too crowded, just a few older people and a woman with a toddler in her lap. The guy behind the counter introduced himself as Matthos, and listened intently as she explained the problem to him. 

“Sounds like a leak,” he said, pulling up her store account and scribbling a few words down on a notepad. “If you don’t mind pulling around to the side, I can double check for you and we’ll decide what to do from there.”

“Oh, well actually.” Rhaenys brushed some hair back behind her ear and glanced over her shoulder, where she could still see the girl yelling into her phone. “If it’s possible, could I just wait for that girl outside to finish her break? She is on her break, right?”

Matthos followed her gaze. His expression tensed. “Not exactly,” he said. “Are you sure you want to wait for her?”

“Only if it’s no trouble.” She gave him her most polite smile and lowered her voice a little. “I’d just feel more... comfortable.”

Matthos spared another glance out the window toward his coworker, and she could see the exact moment when what she was implying clicked. “I understand,” he said slowly. “You just go bring your car around, and she'll meet you out there in a few minutes. I’ll make sure of it.”

Rhaenys flashed him another smile (it really was her best feature). “Thank you!”

A few minutes later, Rhaenys was back in her Jeep and humming along to the radio when she saw the girl from outside emerge from the garage, holding the notepad Matthos had been writing on earlier. Rhaenys rolled down her passenger’s side window and waved. “Over here!”

 _Asha_ , said the patch on her coveralls. Her hair was ink black and very short, and she had a silver ring in her septum, even more in her ears. Rhaenys had a septum piercing too, and took it as a sign the universe was sending her. “I’m told you had a leak.”

“Yes, I think so. I tried to refill the air myself but the light just came back on a little while later. Over here, on the driver’s side.”

Asha unhooked the air hose thingy, rounded the front of the car, and crouched down to check it out. Rhaenys leaned out the window, resting her chin on her on the back of her hand. “Aren’t you going to ask why I requested you?”

“Matthos said you wanted a woman to wait on you.” The meter beeped and Asha frowned. “I’d say you drove over a nail. I’m going to check the rest of your tires.”

“Okay, but—Asha!” As she moved to the back of the car, Rhaenys threw open her door and stepped out. “Listen, I overheard you a little, when you were talking on the phone. You said something about your apartment being condemned.”

“Mold,” Asha said shortly. “This one’s fine.”

Rhaenys followed as she moved to another tire. “Well, I just wanted to let you know… my roommates and I kind of need another person, if you’re interested.”

Finally, Asha spared a glance at her. “Really.” The meter beeped, but she didn’t move onto the last tire, instead standing straight so she could look Rhaenys in the eye. They were about the same height, and something in her face was vaguely familiar, though she couldn't quite place what. “What do you mean, kind of?”

“What?”

“You said you _kind of_ need another person to move in. I want to know what _kind of_ means.”

“Oh, I only meant…” Arianne was going to kill her. She cracked her knuckles. “We’ve been looking all summer but we were just starting to give up, you know, since it’s so close to school starting again and all. But if you’re interested, the room is yours.”

Asha studied her for a moment and Rhaenys held her breath, waiting. On one hand, if Asha said yes, Arianne was going to go apoplectic. But already she seemed pretty cool, like the kind of girl who would keep to herself, and how convenient would it be to have a roommate who knew her way around a car? _Yeah_ , Rhaenys decided. _I’ll really sell the mechanic thing_.

“Give me your hand,” Asha finally said, fishing a Sharpie out of her pocket. Rhaenys obediently stuck out her arm, and watched as Asha scribbled down a number on the inside of her wrist. “Give me a call at around seven tonight.”

“Really?” Rhaenys couldn’t help but squeal, but she did manage to squash the urge to throw her arms around her. “So you’re in?”

Asha shrugged. “I had a problem, you solved it. Don’t see why I would question it.”

“Oh, that’s so great! I’m Rhaenys, by the way, I don’t think I told you my name. Oh, you won’t regret it, it’s a great place, the bus picks up like right outside—wait, you are a student, right? Not that it matters, but—”

“I’m a student,” Asha said calmly. “And you can tell me all about it later. I need to change your tire and you can’t be in the garage. Give me your keys.”

Rhaenys dropped them in her hand. “So I’ll call you tonight?”

Asha rounded the car and opened the driver’s door. “That’s what I said. Now go back inside, we’ll tell you when your car is ready.”

Right then, Rhaenys would’ve done anything she said. She walked back into the main shop with a little spring in her step, hampered only by the fact that Arianne was totally going to kill her.

* * *

After leaving the mechanic, Rhaenys decided to treat herself by picking up an iced latte on her way to the supermarket to enjoy while she browsed. She knew what Brienne liked, so she tossed a few things in the cart for her, even though she ate most of her meals in the dining hall with the extended hours for student-athletes. She also replaced Arianne’s bagels, and picked up a nice bottle of wine for her too. Anything to soften the blow when she heard about their new addition.

On her way home, she wondered what the best way to break the news would be. Arianne didn’t do well with surprises. Maybe if she brought it up casually enough, she could like… reverse-psychology Arianne into thinking it was her idea. And really emphasize the whole black mold thing too. Arianne was too good of a person to let someone go on living like that when she had a spare room just sitting empty. She’d totally come around.

Even so, she wasn’t above bribery. Rhaenys wasn’t a skilled cook, but she was competent enough, and it wasn’t like she had anything else on that day’s roster. By the time Arianne got home from work, Rhaenys had prepared a lovely salad packed with Arianne-favored ingredients such as olives and peppers, with a side of flatbread and hummus.

“Smells good,” Arianne said, kicking off her heels and padding into the kitchen. “Although, I understand lamb is asking a lot, but you couldn’t get chicken instead?”

“This is just as good!” Rhaenys insisted. The truth was she had a phobia of cooking meat, or rather, a phobia of the consequences that arose when meat was not cooked properly. The point was, at school she became functionally vegetarian. “Don’t you want to get changed? Sit down?”

Arianne shrugged and headed to her room, emerging a few minutes later in sweats and a tank top, her face scrubbed clean. “Go sit wherever,” Rhaenys called. “I’ll bring it out to you.”

She had to take three trips out to the living room; once with their plates, again for the wine, and a third time because she’d forgotten utensils the first. They were eating a little too early for primetime television and had to settle for using the local news as background noise while Arianne told Rhaenys about yet another eventful day at the office.

“Yeah, at this point everyone who’s coming has already told us they’re coming,” she was saying. “So right now it’s just fielding calls from people under the impression that the admissions office has anything to do with housing and last minute drop outs, maybe a few financial aid questions we transfer to the office. It’s pretty tedious. I’m almost excited for classes to start.”

“You say that now,” Rhaenys replied, biting through a tomato. “We should try to have a get together before then, though. Next Saturday, maybe.”

“Sure. Were you thinking of anyone?”

“Actually..." This was too easy. "I was. I met a new friend today, her name’s Asha, super cool.”

“Mmhm.” Arianne was clearly only half-listening, more focused on the handsome newscaster.

“Yeah, I drove over a nail at some point yesterday, she took care of me at the mechanic. And you know, we got to talking and…” Rhaenys took a deep breath; _Just rip the band-aid off, Rhae_. “She told me she was looking for a place to stay.”

Arianne froze, her fork halfway to her mouth. “What did you tell her.” It wasn’t a question.

“Oh, not much." She tried to keep her voice light. "Just that… we kind of have a spare room?”

“Rhaenys!” Arianne slammed her bowl down on the coffee table and leapt up. “What did I tell you about my office?”

Rhaenys stood up too. “You don’t need an office! You’re just using it as an extra closet anyway!”

“So what? Why does that bother you?”

“Because it’s selfish!” Childishly, Rhaenys stamped her foot. “You know her apartment is literally condemned? She’s got black mold in her walls. What was I supposed to do, pretend I can’t help while mold spores are literally growing in her lungs?”

“Yes,” Arianne said peevishly.

"Arianne! You don't believe that!"

Arianne's lips flattened into a thin like, and she glowered at Rhaenys for a few seconds longer before the fury finally began to leave her eyes. “Fine," she snapped. "You did the right thing, happy?”

“Yes.” Rhaenys sat, and after a moment, Arianne sank down beside her. “Are you mad?”

Arianne pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. “I really wasn’t looking forward to living with a stranger. And,” she added, holding a hand up, “someone you met a few hours ago still counts as a stranger, no matter how much of a ‘connection’ you think you’ve made.”

“I dunno.” Rhaenys bumped their shoulders together. “I think we really hit it off. But if you want to talk to her, I could call her.”

Arianne opened one eye. “You think that’s going to make me feel better?”

“It might!” Rhaenys said cheerfully, and dug her phone out of her pocket, rolling up the sleeve of her hoodie and punching in the number. She let her finger hover over the green _call_ button. “Are you ready?”

Arianne had closed her eyes again. “As I’ll ever be.”

Asha picked up on the third ring. “Hello.”

“Asha, hi! It’s Rhaenys from earlier, remember me? You fixed my car?” Asha grunted an affirmative. “Cool. So I’m here with my roommate Arianne, and we just wanted to know if you had any questions for us?”

“Yeah, hold on.” They spent several minutes talking about a bunch of sensible adult stuff, like rent and leases and utilities; Rhaenys also learned that she had never actually told Asha the address of her new home.

“That’s not a problem, right?” Rhaenys asked when Asha fell silent.

“Ugh, yeah it’s fine,” but her voice had gone considerably sour. “I’m just pretty sure that's the building my current landlord's been eyeing, and I fucking hate him.”

“Petyr Baelish?” Rhaenys recalled the man with a graying, pointy beard and a smile that never reached his eyes. He'd owned her old apartment building and though he wasn't around often, the few times she had met him his eyes had been fixed on the thick silver lock of hair that grew in just behind her left ear, and wouldn't stop calling her _Miss Targaryen_ in that sleek voice, no matter how many times she corrected him. “Seriously?”

Arianne scowled; she'd never liked feeling out of the loop. “And who, pray tell, is this Petyr Baelish?”

"He was my old landlord," Rhaenys explained. "Kind of a slime ball."

"Understatement," Asha spat. “He declared my building condemned so he can knock it down to build some fancy new apartments in its place. I have rights, and refused to refused to leave. Now that there’s the mold I legally have to.”

Rhaenys glanced at Arianne, who rolled her eyes. "Chataya would never let that happen," she said dismissively. "Do you know how hard it is to get a lease here? They get snatched up before they can even be hit the market, you have to know someone moving out. No need to be paranoid."

“Whatever,” Asha said briskly. “Anything else I need to know?”

“Uhm…” Her eyes fell on Balerion, asleep on the radiator. “Are you allergic to cats?”

“Keep it out of my shit and we’ll get along just fine.”

“Then that’s everything.”

“Great. I’ll be moving on on Saturday.”

“We’re looking forward to it. Goodnight, Ash!” Rhaenys elbowed Arianne, who echoed a weak, “Goodnight.”

“Night.” The call ended.

“Well.” Rhaenys turned to her cousin. “Does she sound cool or what? Tell me I picked a good roommate.”

Instead of answering, Arianne reached for the wine and poured herself a glass, not stopping until it was kissing the rim. She passed the bottle over and Rhaenys took it happily, pouring herself a far more manageable amount.

They watched game shows and summer reality TV for the rest of the night.

* * *

Not only was Asha moving in on Saturday, but it was also the day Brienne was returning to King’s Landing. Rhaenys was excited. She’d missed Brienne; they’d been roommates freshman year, but then Brienne moved into the student-athlete complex for the next two years while Rhaenys moved into those apartments with a girl she barely knew. They’d sort of drifted apart during that time in between, but after Sarella, Brienne was probably her best friend in the world.

So of course, it only made sense that she would be the one to pick her up from the airport. The problem was, however, that Asha had decided to move in late afternoon, when it wouldn’t be so hot, coincidentally at about the same time Brienne’s flight would be getting in.

“You barely know her,” Rhaenys said. “It would just be weird.”

"I cheered at every single one of her home games the last three years, in case you forgot."

"And you still barely know her!"

“Well, there’s no better way to get to know someone than to brave an hour of weekend airport traffic with them.” Arianne shrugged. “It only makes sense. You’d be far more useful here helping Asha move in than I ever could.”

“It’s not that, you just don’t want to do it.”

“It’s the same thing.”

“Hey, you don’t know Asha either. What better way to get to know someone than to move all their shit into your apartment? Speaking of shit, I hope you cleared all of yours out of her room.”

Arianne opened her mouth, then closed it. She frowned. “Oh,” she murmured. “I forgot.”

“Then that settles it,” Rhaenys said brightly, snatching her keys off the counter and skipping over to the front door. “You’ll stay here and get Asha’s room ready for her. I’ll go pick up Brienne. Hopefully we’ll be back in time to help! See you later!”

The drive to the airport wasn’t too bad; the tricky thing was going to be timing things right so that she didn’t get to the pick up line so early airport parking police started harassing her for loitering, while also not getting there so late that Brienne was kept waiting because Rhaenys was stuck at the back of the line.

Still, she got there way too early. Rhaenys could see one of the enforcers eyeing her, just waiting for her to step out of the car so he could nab her with a ticket. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She was so focused on the prick that she didn’t even notice Brienne until she was literally banging on her window.

“Holy shit!” Rhaenys shouted when she saw her friend’s familiar freckled face peering in at her. She threw her door open and bolted around the car. “Brienne!” It felt so good to hug her; it was like she hadn’t even realized how much she’d missed her until right then. “How was your vacation?”

“Lovely. It was so nice to be home.” Brienne pulled back, so Rhaenys did too. “How’s the apartment?”

“Asha’s moving in today. You already have all your stuff in, right? We don’t need to go to your old place?”

“Loras and Renly helped me before I left.”

“Great! We should probably hurry back, because I’m not sure if just the two of them can manage. Not when one’s Arianne.”

“You shouldn’t make fun of your cousin like that.”

“It’s the truth. Now come on.” Rhaenys picked up the duffle bag Brienne had dropped and swung open her trunk, tossing it inside. “I hope we can beat traffic.”

They were lucky enough to get out just early enough to beat the worst of rush hour, but the drive back was still more than double the time it had taken Rhaenys to drive out there in the first place. Not that Rhaenys was complaining; she’d rather be stuck in traffic where she and Brienne could fully properly catch up than be out in the August heat, lugging Asha’s shit up to the apartment. But Arianne might complain, and that would be annoying.

By the time they got home, only three hours had passed since Rhaenys had left, so Asha was probably still moving in. “We should’ve stopped for food and just lied about traffic,” Rhaenys muttered as the elevator took them up to the fourth floor. 

Brienne looked at her sideways. “We should’ve,” she agreed after a moment.

But when she let them into the apartment, Asha and Arianne were relaxing in the living room, Asha with a beer on the couch and Arianne curled up with a glass of wine in a corner of the loveseat, watching more _Big Brother_. Arianne craned her neck around to see them.

“Welcome back, ladies,” she said airily. “Brienne, this is Asha. Asha, Brienne. Brienne, would you like a drink?”

Asha, long legs stretched out in front of her and feet propped up on the coffee table, raised her beer in greeting. “Great work on the field. Not a fan of football, but I have to respect it.”

“Thanks,” Brienne said after a moment. “And I’m alright, Arianne. Thank you.”

Arianne pushed herself up. “You should drink some water at least. Flying is so dehydrating.”

“I’ll have some wine, please!” Rhaenys said as her cousin brushed past her.

“Get it your damn self,” Arianne threw over her shoulder, and Rhaenys laughed.

Balerion was lurking in the doorway of her room, and Rhaenys leaned down to scoop him up, before sitting next to Asha on the couch. Brienne sat on the loveseat. “So,” Rhaenys said, lifting Balerion a little so Asha could get a good look. “Have you been acquainted with my kitty yet?”

Asha eyed him. “That cat is geriatric. You cannot call it a kitty.”

“His name is Balerion the Black Dread,” Rhaenys went on. “Would you like to kiss him?”

“I wouldn’t.”

Rhaenys laughed and settled back. “You guys moved you in awfully quick, by the way.”

Asha looked at her sideways. “Do I strike you as someone who has a lot of stuff?”

“I guess not.” Settling him in her lap, Rhaenys looked over Asha’s head to see Arianne returning, a glass of water in one and and a cutting board balanced on the other.

“I was going to bring you wine, but then I realized I couldn’t hold it,” she said to Rhaenys as she put the plate on the table and handed Brienne her glass, before sitting down cross-legged on the floor. “So you can get it yourself.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” She nudged Balerion off and made her way into the kitchen, and by the time she returned with her glass and the rest of the bottle, Arianne was doling out slices of mango. She handed Rhaenys one as she passed.

Asha took a big bite out of piece and didn’t seem to care when the juice ran down her chin. “Never had a mango before,” she mumbled. “Sweet.”

Rhaenys bit into her slice too. When they were little, she and Egg used to eat them over the sink, watching the juice drip down the drain. She should call him later.

 _What a way to spend Saturday night_ , she thought, looking around at her new living room. Drinking wine, sharing a mango, and watching _Big Brother_ , her cousin on the floor in front of her, a new friend sitting beside her, and an old one just a few feet away, the cat she’d had for most of her life resting contently in her lap.

 _It’s going to be a good year,_ she thought to herself. _I can feel it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is six months in the making. And it never would've happened without Syd, who so generously allowed me her brain for the pickings. This is for you!


	2. Working Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me just say, from the bottom of my heart... my bad.

_Monday, August 24th  
7:31 AM_

Rhaenys believed that the key to a good week was a good Monday. And the key to a good Monday was a good morning. And today, after almost a full six months, she was _finally_ going back to work, which meant that this week, more than any other week, _had_ to be a good one, which meant a good Monday and a— 

“Good morning, ladies!” she sang as she walked out of her bedroom. Asha and Brienne, sitting side by side at the counter, both twisted around to look at her; she kissed the back of Brienne’s head and squeezed Asha’s shoulders. “Is that coffee I smell?”

“No,” Arianne said flatly, standing right in front of her obscenely expensive espresso machine and staring dead-eyed at the slow drip of her double shot into a clear glass tumbler, which she drank out of because she wanted everyone to know she took her coffee black. “Don’t let my bagel burn.”

“Say please.” She wrapped her arms around Arianne’s neck, swaying back and forth. “So ladies, how are we on this beautiful Monday morning?”

“God.” Asha, nursing a Red Bull, rested her cheek on her other hand. “If you’d told me you were a morning person, I never would’ve moved in.”

“She’s just superstitious,” Brienne said, dragging her spoon through a bowl of oatmeal. “She’ll be back to form tomorrow.”

“ _Brienne_ ,” Rhaenys said, stretching her name out. “I’m not superstitious. It’s just… pattern recognition.”

“ _If_ you’re superstitious,” Arianne said. “And I’ll bite your arm if you don’t get off me.”

“And smear your lipstick? Shut up.” She released her anyway though, because Arianne wasn't someone you wanted to play chicken with, and spun toward the pantry. “Anyone want cereal? I’m having...” She plucked a box off one of the higher shelves. “...Cinnamon Toast Crunch!”

She hadn’t expected any takers; Arianne didn’t like cereal, Brienne was already halfway through her oatmeal and a dark green smoothie, and Asha just didn’t seem the type, so she was pretty delighted to see her raise her Red Bull. She quickly made two bowls and slid one down to Asha, then broke two bananas off the bunch and tossed her one too. Asha caught it easily, but made a face.

 _“Anyway,”_ Rhaenys said, sliding into the seat next to Brienne. “I was talking about mornings.”

“Mornings.” Arianne was still standing, mechanically scraping fig jam onto her poppyseed bagel, and her voice was flat. “Asha, your teeth are going to fall out of your head. And you’ll be pissing battery acid.”

It was a good thing Rhaenys didn’t have any food in her mouth at that moment, or it would have fallen right out. Her cousin could be kind of weird and mean in the mornings, before she was really awake, but that was weird and mean even for her. “Arianne, what the hell. Did you just like… hex her?”

She felt Brienne elbow her gently, and glanced over to see her shaking her head. “What? What happened?”

“You were in the shower,” Brienne whispered, her mouth barely moving. “There was a bit of a disagr—” 

“She was pounding on my bathroom door and screaming at the top of her lungs,” Arianne said. “You’ll have to excuse my language, but this is a direct quote; _get out of the fucking shower, Martell.”_

Asha leaned forward, propping her chin up on her fist. “ _Our_ bathroom door. And I wasn’t screaming.”

“Demanding.”

“...yeah, I’m okay with that.”

“See, Rhaenys?” Arianne turned her big brown eyes on her. “She’s shameless.”

“Oh, boo fucking hoo. I left for my run, you were in the shower. I came back from my run, you were still in the shower. Should I have just let you make me late?”

“And now she’s mocking me.”

“Okay,” Rhaenys said, looking back and forth between the two of them. “I know I asked, but I didn’t mean it. Let's just drop it.”

“Too bad, your problem now,” Arianne said. “You’re the one who sicced her on me. Keep her in line.”

“Sicced?” Asha sounded amused. “Brienne, did she just call me a bitch?”

“I won’t be in the middle of this either.”

Rhaenys sighed loudly; she wanted them to know she thought this was stupid. “Fine. Asha, watch your mouth. Arianne, take shorter showers. Both of you stop being assholes. Problem solved.”

“Hah,” Asha scoffed. “She’s a lost cause.”

Arianne tipped her head to the side. “If you really believe that,” she said finally, “try asking nicely next time. I can be accommodating.”

“Really?” Asha droned. “I didn’t realize you’d cut your thirty minute shower short if only I’d just asked nicely. My bad.”

“That’s not quite what I meant,” Arianne said sweetly, and Asha raised an eyebrow. “If it’s a warm welcome you’re looking for, a warm welcome you’ll—”

Asha threw back her head and cackled. Brienne dropped her spoon. Rhaenys reached out and slapped the back of her cousin’s hand. “Arianne!”

“Ow!” Arianne immediately hit her back. “What the fuck?”

“That’s our roommate, you weirdo,” Rhaenys said. “Show some respect.”

“She’s laughing!” Arianne insisted. “It was a joke, prude.”

“Everything’s a joke to you.” To Asha, Rhaenys said, “Excuse her. She’s a maneater, can’t help herself.”

“Funny.” Without taking her eyes off Arianne, Asha bit the tip off of her banana. “I’ve been told the same thing.”

“You guys, Brienne is trying to eat!”

“Oh no, carry on. Don’t mind me.” Brienne’s dry, sarcastic voice was betrayed by her pink face, though, and she reached across the counter to drop her bowl in the sink. “I’ve got to get going, anyway.”

Asha glanced at her watch. “Shit, me too. You want a ride?”

“Thanks, but the bike over is my warm up.” Brienne grabbed her water, shouldered her gym bag, and headed toward the door. “Bye!”

“I’ll walk you down, then.” Asha lobbed her empty can into the recycling bin. It clattered loudy, startling Balerion, who’d finally wandered out of her bedroom no doubt in search of breakfast. Rhaenys immediately leaned down to pick him up, and watched the two of them head out, Asha saying something she couldn’t quite make out as the door swung shut behind them.

After they’d gone, Rhaenys absently rubbed a thumb over Balerion’s head. “Shoot,” she muttered. “I didn’t get to tell Asha my theory.”

“She would have laughed at you.” For a moment, Arianne just looked at her. “Are you having a good morning?”

Balerion stretched upward, pressing his nose into her collarbone; she held him close. “Yeah,” she said, and kissed the top of his head. “Can’t you tell?”

Arianne—smart, bossy Arianne, who tied for the third oldest of the Martell cousins and took that responsibility extremely seriously—had a way of looking at you that made it hard to lie, even when you weren’t. Rhaenys held her gaze. “I’m happy I’m going back to work,” she added. “You and Asha sniping at each other, annoying as you are, isn’t going to fuck that up for me.”

Hook, line, and sinker. Arianne’s expression softened, and she came around the counter to cup Rhaenys’ face in her hands. “Don’t call me annoying.”

“I thought you wanted me to be honest.”

Arianne squished her cheeks. “And I thought _you_ wanted a ride to campus, Miss I-didn’t-buy-a-parking-pass.”

Rhaenys made a show of clamping her mouth shut. Arianne smirked. “You’re a superstar,” she said, dropping her hands and giving Balerion a single scratch. “Make your coffee, babe. We’re leaving in ten.”

* * *

Arianne dropped her off at the bus stop she’d usually get off at. Rhaenys would have been fine with just walking over from the parking lot, but she’d insisted. Lucky thing that the library was a decent way up the path and they were already cutting it close, or she was pretty sure Arianne would have insisted on seeing her inside too. On their way over, she’d gotten a text from Brienne; _I hope you have a lovely day at work ❤_

Rhaenys had worked at the campus library since she was a sophomore; she’d developed a taste for frozen coffee and online shopping, habits her parents weren’t particularly keen on bankrolling, so getting a job just made sense. It wasn’t a cushy job answering phones in the dean’s office, sure, but the hours were flexible, she liked meeting new people, and best of all, one of the heads was her twice-great-uncle, Aemon Targaryen. Or he had been.

She hadn’t really been inside the library since March, a few weeks after the funeral; Sam and Gilly had gone back to work almost immediately, and she’d figured she could too. Her uncle had worked in the university archives and rare books collections, after all, and was semi-retired to boot, so it wasn’t like she’d even seen him most days anyway. Then, on her fourth day back, she’d clocked out for lunch and spent the entire half hour crying in a bathroom in the basement of the nearest building. After that was done, she went back, got someone to cover the rest of her shifts that week, finished out her six hours, and quit.

So this was, of course, a little bit of a monumental occasion. Her old coworkers would be there, and there’d be new people starting. With classes not starting for another week, it would be slow, and she’d be able to just… catch her breath. Settle back into the groove of things. Feel closer to her uncle than she had in months. And so without further ado, Rhaenys pulled open the door and walked inside.

The first person she saw was Samwell Tarly, sitting alone at the information desk and reading a book. He glanced up at the sound of the door, did an actual double take, and _gasped_. “Oh my gods,” he said, setting his book aside. “Rhaenys?”

“In the flesh!” She laughed and spun around, arms aloft. “Happy to see me?”

“Of course! And Gilly—she’ll be ecstatic.” He looked over his shoulder in the direction of the circulation desk. “We’ve all missed you. It’s been… different.” His smile became a little sad, then he shook his head. “Ach, I’m sorry. I’m sure you’re just here to say hi, I didn’t mean to—”

“Say hi?” Rhaenys said incredulously, and clucked her tongue. “Sam, you think I came to the library at 8AM an entire week before classes start just to say hi? Please.”

“...you’re here to work?” Sam blinked. “But… I was just looking at the schedule.”

“I asked if it could be a secret,” she said brightly. “I wanted to surprise everyone!”

Before Sam could answer, there was the sound of the door swishing open, and she glanced over her shoulder, already beaming, expecting to see someone else equally happy to see her.

But of course, Rhaenys could never be so lucky. The smile froze on her face.

It wasn’t one of her old coworkers standing just inside the door. It was her half-brother’s beloved cousin, and he looked just as startled as she felt.

“Rhaenys?” Robb Stark said. “Hey.”

“Hi.” What the fuck? What the fuck? She hadn’t even finished her coffee yet. What the fuck? Her eyes slid past him, out the doors, because wherever Robb was, Jon was sure to be nearby, especially _here_ where he had absolutely no business being. 

Robb recovered first. He smiled, clearly more out of politeness than anything, because it didn’t reach his eyes. “Um, how are you? How was your summer?”

“Fine.” This was bizarre. Why was he here? Where was Jon? There had to be a reason for this. _I don’t have time for this. I don’t have time for this. I don’t have time for this._ She shook her head and half-turned away. “Sorry, I have to get to work. I’m sure Sam here would be happy to help you.”

Robb’s eyes flickered over to Sam, who had gone white. Neither of them said anything. “What?” Rhaenys snapped, ignoring the voice in the back of her head. “What’s the problem?”

She hated the way they were looking at her, like they were expecting her to go apoplectic at any moment. It was the same way everyone looked at her those few days last semester when she thought she could “make it work.”

No. She was going to be an adult about this. _Breathe, dumbass. Breathe._

Sam cleared his throat. “Robb’s working with us at the library this semester,” he said finally. “Yesterday was his first day.”

She could feel Robb’s eyes on her, but she didn’t look. “Cool,” she said briskly. “I’m going to go say hi to Gilly.”

She turned on her heel, strode toward circulation, and didn’t look back.

* * *

Something important to note about Rhaenys: she did not hate her half-brother.

Jon Stark was five months younger than Aegon. And… well, that was really all there was to say. He lived a thousand miles away in a Northern town called Winterfell and growing up, they'd seen each other maybe two or three times a year, whenever visitations with their father overlapped, usually over the summers and occasional holidays. As she’d gotten older and her control over her schedule increased, those occasions became few and far between, until she was able to mostly ignore his existence altogether.

At least until he chose the same school as her. Since then, he’d been near impossible to escape.

Rhaenys got off work at 4, a full hour before Arianne. She’d originally planned to just find somewhere on campus to kill time, maybe grab a snack while she waited, but after _that_ disaster of a first day, she really just wanted to go home.

“Hello?” she shouted as she let herself in half an hour later. “Anyone home?”

“Rhaenys?” Brienne’s voice floated through the apartment. “Is that you?”

“Uh-huh.” She kicked off her sneakers and headed toward her friend’s room, pausing just inside the doorway. “Fuck, it’s hot. I’ll take Dorne’s desert over this swamp any day.”

Brienne looked up from her laptop. “Did you _walk_ home?”

“Yeah, I got on the wrong bus.” Rhaenys pushed her hair out of her face, trying to catch her breath. “Are you doing homework?”

“My professor sent out the syllabus today, so I thought I’d get a head start.”

“Nerd.”

“That’s fair.” Brienne closed her laptop and leaned back in her chair. “How was work?”

“Work,” Rhaenys groaned, and crossed the room to throw herself down on Brienne’s bed. “You’re not gonna fucking believe this. I got a new coworker, and I’ll give you a hint, his name rhymes with _Stobb Rark.”_

For a second, Brienne looked confused. Then her eyebrows shot up. “What?” she said. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish.” Rhaenys turned her head to rest her cheek against the cool, soft fabric of Brienne’s blue and red patchwork quilt. “Like Sam—Sam’s whatever, you know? I didn’t even know he and Jon were roommates until like a month after he started work. Like, I don’t look at Sam and think—I mean, Sam has tact, you know? He’s smart enough or scared enough to watch his mouth around me. I can just forget about it.” She ran her finger over the white stitching of a crescent moon and sighed. “Gods, I sound insane.”

“Don’t say that,” Brienne said, and Rhaenys looked up to see her come over and sit at the edge of the bed. “You know you’re not.”

She didn’t know, that was the thing. She certainly _felt_ like it sometimes. She rolled onto her back and covered her face with her hands. “Would you tell me if I was being unreasonable?” she asked. “Not crazy, just unreasonable?”

She felt Brienne lay down next to her. “I don’t know.”

Okay, she wasn’t expecting that. She pulled her hands away from her face and turned to her. “...what?”

“Sorry.” Another beat, then, “He’d probably quit if you asked.”

Rhaenys frowned. “Are you dodging my question?”

She was quiet again. “I don’t think you’re being unreasonable,” she said finally. “But I don’t know what unreasonable would look like. Or reasonable, for that matter. It’s your fam—your situation. I can’t tell you how to act. I’m not sure if anyone can.”

 _Egg can_ , Rhaenys thought. _He’s reasonable. He’s normal._ She didn’t say that though. “Do you really think he’d quit if I asked?”

“I think so.”

“...should I? Ask, I mean.”

Brienne didn’t get a chance to answer, because right then, the front door slammed open and Arianne’s voice shouted, “Rhaenys? What the hell was that text you sent me? I’ve been trying to call you!”

Rhaenys grimaced, listening to the _click-clack_ of Arianne’s heels as she marched toward her room, looking for her. “What text?” Brienne whispered, sitting up.

“I just told her not to wait for me,” Rhaenys answered, though if she was being honest, it was totally possible that her wording might have been a little… worrisome. A second later, Arianne appeared in the doorway, holding Rhaenys’ phone in one hand and her own in the other.

“You dropped this,” she said drily. “So what happened to make the bus preferable to my car? I was even going to let you pick the music.”

Rhaenys couldn’t help screwing up her face. “Liar.”

“I guess you’ll never know, will you? Budge over.” Arianne kicked off her heels, shrugged off her blazer, and before Rhaenys could really react, strode over and physically _shoved_ her over. Rhaenys shrieked, and on her other side, Brienne quickly scooted toward the edge to make more room. 

“So,” Arianne said, making herself comfortable. “Obviously you ditched me to have some girl talk with Brienne here, but because I still want to hear about your first day back, I'll choose not to be offended. _Someone_ has to report back to your mom.”

Rhaenys sat up. “Don’t tell my mom.”

Arianne’s expression changed instantly. “Why?” she asked suspiciously. “What happened?”

“It’s not a big deal,” Rhaenys said, which was a complete lie and not at all how she felt. “It’s just—Robb got a job at the library. Robb Stark.”

Arianne arched an eyebrow. “Serious? Shit, that sucks.”

“Brienne thinks I should tell him to quit.”

Brienne elbowed her. “I didn’t say that. I said he’d quit if she asked.”

“Well, that’s the same thing, isn’t it?”

“Is that why you don’t want me to tell your mom?” Arianne asked, before Brienne could answer. “Because he’s going to quit anyway?”

Rhaenys opened her mouth, then closed it. “I didn’t say that.”

“Sure, you just tried to blame Brienne for giving you the idea.” Arianne settled back against the headboard. “So are you going to ask?”

She couldn’t tell if Arianne was deliberately trying to corner her, but whatever she was doing, it felt unfair. “I don’t know.”

“That’s okay,” Brienne said quickly, reaching out to put a hand on her knee and shooting Arianne a warning look. “Do what you think is best. Don’t listen to us.”

Arianne sighed and laid her head down on Rhaenys’ shoulder. “She’s right,” she said, and her voice was kinder now. “Don’t stress about it.”

If possible, she actually felt _more_ stressed about it, but she appreciated their effort. “Enough about me,” she said decisively. “How were your days? Brienne?”

Brienne seemed taken aback by the question, but happy to answer. Just as she was finishing up her story about Loras and the weight room, someone’s phone began to buzz. Arianne found it first.

“It’s you,” she said, tugging Rhaenys’ phone out from underneath her thigh. “Your brother.”

Rhaenys glanced at Brienne, who waved her off. “You can answer it. I should get back to that homework.”

“Homework?” Arianne repeated as Rhaenys crawled over her to get off the bed. “You’re doing homework? Right now?”

“Arianne, we already went over this, please,” Rhaenys said, answering the call and holding her phone way out so they all fit in the frame. “Hi, Egg! What’s up? Say hi to the girlies.”

Her brother’s face filled the screen; he was wearing his glasses, and he must’ve propped his phone up against something, because she could tell he was sitting at their kitchen table at home. “Hi girlies.”

Rhaenys giggled. “Thank you for having me, Brienne,” she said, leaning over to give her a quick hug before carefully crawling over Arianne off the bed. “I’ll let you get back to your homework.”

She heard Aegon suck his teeth. “Brienne, you’ve got homework already?”

“I’m just doing it early,” Brienne explained, loudly enough for the phone to pick it up. “It never hurt to get ahead.”

“Don’t remind me,” Arianne sighed. “I’ll be putting off the start of grad school as long as possible, thanks. What are you working on?”

Rhaenys left them to it, and left Brienne’s room just in time to see Asha walk through the front door. “Ash!” she said brightly. “My brother’s on the phone, do you want to say hi to him?”

“Uh.” Asha raised an eyebrow. Her hair was sticking up on one side, her face was dirty, and she smelled like… well, like a garage. “How old is he?”

Rhaenys recalled what Asha had said that morning at breakfast and immediately clutched her phone to her chest. “Never mind.”

Asha smirked. “Hey, you asked me. I’m getting in the shower.”

“Shower?” Arianne stuck her head out of Brienne’s room. “You already took one today. At my expense, might I remind you.”

“I’m not arguing with you right now,” Asha said, already peeling off her coveralls as she headed toward the bathroom. “But I’ll take you up on this morning’s offer if it’ll shut you up.”

“You guys, please don’t start!” Rhaenys called. “I’m going to my room and I don’t want to hear anything else!”

“Hmph!” Arianne flounced toward her room and shut her door behind her. The bathroom door shut next, and Rhaenys waited to hear Brienne’s door close too before she closed her own.

“Sorry about that,” she said to the phone, sitting down on her bed, Balerion asleep in his own cat bed. “What’s up?”

“Honestly? I’m great.” He grinned. “I had the day off, so I went up to Yronwood to see Quentyn’s new apartment. Met his roommates, third wheeled with him and his girlfriend to lunch, we all had a great time. And I’ve got the next two days off too.”

“The Water Gardens gave you three days off in a row? I bet your weekend _sucked_.”

“Sure fucking did, it was total set up. I don’t want to talk about it, I’ll just say fuck birthday parties and fuck people who don’t watch their fucking kids too.”

Rhaenys laughed. “Three more weeks, dude, you can do it,” she said, settling back against her million pillows. “How’s Quentyn?”

“He’s good, he’s good. His classes start tomorrow, but he’s just glad to be back in Yronwood.” Aegon pushed his hair back and peered at her. “How are you?”

Rhaenys made a noncommittal noise. “I’m okay.”

“Really? Because when I was driving back, Jon called me.”

She should have expected this. While Rhaenys _did not hate_ Jon, Aegon actually liked him. Liked him a lot in fact. They’d always been pretty close, actually, especially with Daenerys as a go between, and even talked outside of mandatory visitations with their dad. Aegon had been barely more than a baby when their life imploded; he didn’t remember their life in the Before, he didn’t have that baggage. Rhaenys wasn’t half as lucky.

She didn’t say anything. Aegon just looked at her for a few seconds, clearly waiting, and shook his head when she refused to respond. “He wants you to know he’s really sorry.”

“Okay.”

“Rhae. Come on.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Something other than _okay._ According to Robb you were pretty freaked.”

“I wasn’t freaked,” she snapped. “I was surprised. And if I remember right, he was too. Which he shouldn’t have been, seeing as he was the one at _my_ job.”

“He didn’t know you’d be there.”

“Then he should have asked.”

“Jon _did_ ask me,” he insisted. “And I told him you weren’t because I thought you would have talked to me if you were. So if you’re gonna blame anyone for this, it’s my fault.”

For a few seconds, she couldn’t speak. Then, “You always take his side.”

Aegon’s jaw went slack. “Rhaenys! I’m not taking sides!”

“You are right now. If you knew about this, you should have told me. How do you think I feel?”

“I don’t know! Because you haven’t told me!” His mouth twisted into a frown. “I’m sorry, okay? You’re right, I should have told you.”

Her little brother looked so genuinely upset that all the fight went out of her (and make no mistake, she’d been expecting a fight). Rhaenys massaged her temples with one hand, suddenly feeling exhausted. “Don’t blame yourself, it’s my fault. I’m the one who kept it a secret. I was afraid I’d choke and I didn’t want to have to walk it back.”

“Why?”

“Why? I don’t know. Does it matter? Mom—” Rhaenys sighed. “She tries to hide it, but she worries. And thinking about her worrying about me… that just stresses me out more. It was easier to just keep it to myself.”

He didn’t look convinced. “I wouldn't have told Mom, not if you asked me not to.”

“I don’t know, Egg. I just didn’t. It doesn’t matter now, anyway.”

“I guess not.” He hesitated, then, “So did you choke?”

She was quiet for a moment, wanting to be thoughtful with her answer. “No,” she said honestly. “No, I didn’t. It was nice, honestly. Being there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” She gnawed on her lip. “I could still… I think he’s happy I came back.”

Aegon didn’t reply right away. “I thought it’d be weird.”

“A little. But not like last semester. It was in a good way, I guess.”

He lowered his eyes, like he was processing that, and was quiet for so long that Rhaenys wished she was there to wrap an arm around his shoulders, instead of having to watch him sit all alone at that stupid table. He’d always been the closest to their uncle, and if any of them took his death the hardest, it was Aegon.

Finally, he sucked in a breath and looked up at her. “Don’t be pissed at Jon, then,” he said. “Please.”

 _And here we go._ She tamped those thoughts down. “I’m not pissed.”

“He thinks you are.”

“So tell him I’m not. He trusts you, doesn’t he?”

“Not when it comes to you,” and his voice was so earnest Rhaenys wanted to hang up right then and there. “It has to come from you, even if it’s indirectly, or he’ll just think that I’m trying to make him feel better.”

Rhaenys wasn’t particularly interested in proving to Jon how not mad she was, but it was important to Aegon. “Then what do you suggest, since you know him so well?”

He ignored the jab. “All you have to do is say hi to Robb tomorrow. Isn’t that easy?”

“That all?” she asked coolly.

“Rhae, don’t be like that,” her brother said. “Look… Jon did say that Robb didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. But should he really have to find another job because you don’t want to see his face a few times a week? That’s not his fault. And with everything going on, he really did want this job.”

She could tell by the way he said that last part that he wanted her to ask, but she refused to give him that, mostly out of spite. “Fine,” she said shortly. “I’ll say hi to Robb. You can tell Jon whatever you want. Happy?”

“Thank you,” he said sincerely. “I… I know—”

“Save it, Egg. It’s okay.” She sat up and saw Balerion was awake and peering at her from his bed. “Hey, you wanna say hi to Balerion? I can tell he misses you.” Rhaenys climbed off her bed to sit down on the floor next to him, nuzzling her cheek against the top of his head. “See who it is? It’s Eggie!”

Balerion looked at the screen, clearly unimpressed. Aegon laughed. “He doesn’t miss me at all.”

“He’s just tired!” Rhaenys planted a kiss on the top of his head and let him climb into her lap. “He’s got the right idea though, I think I’m gonna take a nap too. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

He shook his head. “I told Mom and Arthur I’d do dinner tonight, so I probably should get started on that.”

“Ooh, what’s on the menu?”

“Gonna go scrounge in the kitchen and see what I can find. Good night.”

“Good night, Egg. Love you.”

“Love you. Talk whenever.”

“Talk whenever!”

After he hung up, Rhaenys hefted Balerion into her arms and crawled back into bed with him. He didn’t struggle, but even so, she made sure she had a shoebox pushed up against her bed in case he changed his mind, a makeshift step down. He wasn’t nearly as spry as he’d been once upon a time.

“I can just say hi, right?” she said to him. “And then it’s done, Aegon can stop harassing me.”

Balerion mewed in her face and she smiled. “You always know what to say,” she said, closing her eyes. “Wake me up in an hour and I’ll love you forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized this was going to be an absolute 10k word monster of a chapter so I split it in two. Second half will hopefully be up by the end of the week.
> 
> Thank y'all so much for bearing with me lmao.


	3. Olive Branches (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KS, I hope you wake up to this! This is 4 u.
> 
> To everyone else, once again. From the bottom of my heart, my bad.

_Friday, August 28th  
6:40 AM_

Saying hi to Robb was easier said than done. Not because she couldn’t do it, because she totally could, but because she literally didn’t _see_ him.

Maybe he was avoiding her. Or maybe she was subconsciously avoiding him. Or maybe it was just that he, along with all the other new assistants, got stuck with boring grunt work no one else wanted to deal with which, more often than not, meant that their paths simply didn’t cross much. 

And that was just on Tuesday. Robb didn’t show up at all on Wednesday (not that she was looking for him), and Rhaenys had Thursday off. She’d taken the ferry to Dragonstone and spent an idyllic day picking lemons and making honeyfingers with Dany and her nana, while Balerion dethroned Drogon (the biggest and meanest of Dany’s already big, mean cats) as resident king of the castle. And a day like that turned out to be exactly what she needed, because by the time she got home, Robb was about the furthest thing from her mind.

Friday morning, Rhaenys woke to rain and everything that entailed; a steady patter against her window, the _whoosh_ of cars driving by on the street below, and a faint ache in her left knee. Balerion, curled in a ball on her other pillow, was already awake and peering at her with glossy golden eyes. He’d always liked to watch her sleep.

“Good morning,” she said softly, reaching out to put a hand on his flank, just to feel him breathe. “Thanks for the sweet dreams.”

Balerion didn’t talk much in the mornings, but she smiled at him anyway. She’d woken up before her alarm somehow, but she didn’t mind; she found rain comforting, and it was nice to just experience it, warm in her bed and not in any rush.

Like picking lemons from Dany’s tree and making honeyfingers with her grandmother, rain reminded Rhaenys of her childhood on Dragonstone.

After a slightly longer, hotter shower than usual, Rhaenys was wiping the condensation off the bathroom mirror when she heard something both familiar and unusual. Familiar because it was something she heard every morning since moving in. Unusual because she usually didn’t hear it quite _this_ early. She tapped her phone screen, just in case she’d stayed in bed for way too long, but nope; it was barely a quarter past seven, way early for anyone to be making so much noise.

She opened the door, that familiar roar growing louder, and wandered towards the kitchen. “Hey,” she said. She wasn’t surprised to see Arianne, gazing dully at her espresso machine while it cheerfully spat out fresh coffee grounds and threatened to wake the entire building. Asha’s presence, however, was a little more unexpected, sitting on the other side of the counter drinking her daily Red Bull and eating pickles right out of the jar. “You’re up early.”

“Unfortunately,” Arianne sighed. With her high ponytail, tailored pants, and almond colored trench coat, she looked like she belonged on the cover of _Forbes 30 Under 30._ “I have to take Asha to work.”

“You are?” Rhaenys elected not to say what she was really thinking, which was _I didn’t even think you liked her._ “Why?”

Arianne didn’t look up. “Her car shat the bed.”

“Holy shit.” Rhaenys hadn’t gotten home till late, and though Arianne and Brienne had both waited up for her, playing cards in the living room, they hadn’t said anything about _that._ “Last night?”

“Yep,” Asha droned. The top half of her coveralls were undone and hanging around her waist, revealing a black sports bra and an impressive array of tattoos. “My uncle Vic always said that piece of shit was trying to kill him, but I just figured he was crazy, paranoid, and incapable of doing the bare minimum of maintenance. Broken clock’s right twice a day.”

“She’s joking about it now,” Arianne said drily. “But she was pretty furious when she walked in that door yesterday. It’s too bad you missed the show.”

“I’m not joking.” Asha bit into a second pickle. “You ever been rear ended at 55 miles an hour?”

“Oh my gods.” Rhaenys adjusted her towel, searching Asha for any band-aids or bruises. “Shouldn’t you be in the hospital?”

“I’m fine, I got off the road in time,” Asha said, sounding more annoyed than anything—though Rhaenys noticed her hands shaking slightly as she picked up her Red Bull. “I’m just out of a fucking car until I can figure out what the problem is. Greyjoy luck strikes again.”

“I’m sure you can do it,” Rhaenys said reassuringly, going over to put a hand on her shoulder. Asha immediately leaned away, muttering something along the lines of _fucking freezing,_ and Rhaenys laughed. “I’m just glad you two have worked out your differences. All that sniping was starting to take its toll on me.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Asha said with a wry half smile. “She said she wouldn’t hesitate to kill us both if I said anything she didn’t like.”

“Aw,” Rhaenys cooed. “So she really is warming up to you.”

“Rhaenys, go put some clothes on, you’re dripping water everywhere,” Arianne said briskly, ignoring her. “Asha, we need to get going.”

Asha looked at her watch. “It’s still early,” she said, even as she pulled up her coveralls and began to fasten them. “How far do you think the garage is?”

“We’re stopping by the bakery.” Arianne raised her mug to her lips and took a delicate sip. “Just in case someone wants to buy me a fresh croissant for my trouble.”

“Really?” Asha raised an eyebrow. “And who might this someone be? A big shot banker bro? Or some sad lonely poet?”

“I’m getting the sense it might be someone who works with their hands.” Arianne didn’t quite smile, but her eyes said it all. “Maybe… a plumber.”

Asha snorted. “You’re full of shit, Martell,” she said, grinning. “Come on then, let’s find out.”

“Bye,” Rhaenys sang as they headed toward the door. “Please come back in once piece.”

“That’s up to her,” Asha and Arianne said simultaneously. They looked at one another. “Shut up.”

She really did have killer roommate intuition. Rhaenys tried not to look smug; Arianne flipped her off anyway. She locked the door behind them and skipped off to her room to get dressed.

The next time she stepped out, Brienne was already in the kitchen, seated at the counter and eating the same breakfast she had every morning, oatmeal and a smoothie. She smiled at her. “Good morning.”

“Morning!” Rhaenys got her cereal from the pantry and pulled down a bowl. “How come you didn’t tell me Asha’s car crapped out?”

“Oh.” Brienne frowned. “Should I have? You said you just wanted to go to bed.”

“Please don’t use my own words against me,” she said, taking the stool next to her. “Hypothetically speaking, you think they’d hook up?”

“Rhaenys!” Brienne gave her an exasperated look. “Your cousin has a boyfriend—”

“I said hypothetically!” 

“—and even if she didn’t, that’s none of our business.” 

Rhaenys shrugged. “I’m just saying, if I had a boyfriend even half as sweet and gorgeous as Arys, I would never—” 

“Let’s talk about something else,” Brienne said. “I’ll give you one chance to choose correctly.”

“...well, I’ve been thinking about downloading Tinder again—” Immediately, Brienne reached out to cover her mouth. Rhaenys, cackling, licked her palm, and Brienne yanked her hand away in disgust.

“Asha was right, you are a morning person,” she said drily, wiping her hand on Rhaenys’s jeans and just making her laugh harder. “I don’t remember you being this chipper freshman year.”

Still giggling, Rhaenys leaned over to plop her head on her friend’s shoulder. “It’s Friday!” she sang. “How can I not be in a good mood? And we’re having a party tomorrow!”

“Oh, that reminds me actually.” Brienne bumped the top of Rhaenys’s head with her cheek. “You don’t think it’s going to get too wild, do you?”

“Wild?” Rhaenys made a face. “I wish. No, Arianne would have a conniption if we ruined the aesthetic of her first party as a grad student with something as juvenile as jello shots and strip poker, unfortunately. Why?”

“I thought it’d be nice to invite Podrick,” Brienne explained. “He’s only a freshman, so I wouldn’t want to overwhelm him.”

“Cuuuuute,” Rhaenys cooed. Other than Loras, Podrick Payne was the most recurring character in Brienne’s daily recaps, so it’d be fun to actually lay eyes on him. “Aw, his first college party. Maybe I will make jello shots and break out the playing cards.”

“Rhaenys, what did I just say?”

“I’m kidding!”

* * *

A little while later, after dropping Brienne off at the football facility (she hated paying for parking, but she hated how the bus smelled like wet dog on days like this more), Rhaenys was heading up the sidewalk from the parking garage closest to the library, humming along to the Jonas Brothers and stomping her Docs in every other puddle she saw just for the hell of it. Her music was kind of loud, so she didn’t hear the massive pickup truck approaching until it was roaring right past her and slamming to a halt at the curb, in the very same spot Arianne/the bus usually dropped her off at.

She pulled out an earbud and watched as the passenger side door was thrown and a figure in a navy raincoat carefully hopped down, then reached back in for a pair of crutches. He was laughing, and as he shut the door, she heard a familiar voice shout, “Good- _bye,_ Jon! I _said_ thanks!”

The truck peeled away, and as it whipped around the corner Rhaenys tried to get a glimpse inside, but it was too far away and the windows were tinted dark besides. Had he seen her? No, that was stupid, her hood was up, so even if he had, he wouldn’t have recognized her. It’s not like he would have thought, _Yellow raincoat? That must be my sister Rhaenys!_

_Half-sister._

Did he even know if her favorite color was yellow? She sure didn’t know what his was. Anyway, that truck couldn't be Jon's, she knew for a fact he drove a black Subaru. Maybe it was Robb's? But why was Jon driving Robb's car? Was he picking him up too? Would she have to see him later?

Wait, was she spiraling? It felt like she was spiraling. Nope, this wasn’t happening; she was having a good day and gods be damned, it was going to stay that way. Even if she did have a promise to keep.

Rhaenys shoved her headphones into her pocket and picked up the pace. “Robb!” she called before she could lose her nerve, and he twisted, trying to see over his shoulder without toppling over. “Hey!”

He looked surprised, like, _really_ surprised that she was talking to him. “Hey,” he said as she caught up with him, and belatedly smiled at her, the same polite smile as he’d given her on Monday, the last time they’d spoken. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” _How are you?_ she could ask; those crutches were certainly new. But staying in a good mood meant cutting to the chase, so she wasn’t stewing over it for the rest of the day. “Jon just drop you off?”

Robb’s smile immediately faltered. “No,” he said, almost too quickly, and for a second she thought he was lying. “No, why—” Then he stopped. “Oh, sorry. That guy I was talking to was my roommate Jon. Jon Umber. Not... Jon.”

Oh. “Sorry,” she said, mostly because she didn’t know how else to respond.

“No, don’t be sorry, that’s my bad.” He started to swing forward on his crutches, and she fell into step beside him. “It’s confusing for everyone on the team. We call him—Umber—the Smalljon on the ice.”

On the ice. Hockey. Right. She nodded slowly, and inexplicably, a memory surfaced. A Friday last fall, probably around October. Her uncle and Sam were getting ready to leave the library and though they didn’t say, she knew they were going to the hockey game to watch Jon play. Even if they had invited her, she wouldn’t have wanted to go, and even if she hadn’t been closing, she wouldn’t have wanted to go, but for some reason, she was annoyed about the whole thing anyway. Of course, she _still_ would have been annoyed if she _had_ been invited and she _was_ free, because it had happened before, so once again, it was just Rhaenys being fucking insane. What else was new.

The memory didn’t annoy her though. It just made her sad.

And guilty.

_No. Don’t cry. Keep the mood, keep the mood!_

“So those are new,” she blurted out, just to kill the silence. “What happened?”

“It’s just my knee,” Robb said, and he almost sounded… embarrassed. “I had surgery on my ACL last month, so it’s not really a fan of bad weather right now.”

“You’re kidding.” Rhaenys couldn’t help herself. “My knee was bugging me too.”

“Really? Hasn’t it been years?”

“Almost eight.” Weird to think it had been that long; she could still remember limping off the soccer field like it was yesterday, Sarella bearing most of her weight, the worry plain in Arthur’s face on the sidelines. She also remembered getting a card in the mail, just a few weeks later, with a Winterfell return address. “But I wouldn’t say it hurts. You’ll get over it.”

“Can’t wait,” he said, then, “Thanks,” when Rhaenys held the library door open for him. “My doctor’s optimistic, though. He thinks I could be back to form by next year.”

“So you’re out for the season?”

“Yeah.” He hesitated for a moment. “It’s why I got a job. Otherwise I’d only leave the house for class and physical therapy.”

 _Don’t explain yourself to me,_ she almost wanted to say, but didn’t know how without sounding like an ass. “Yeah, PT’s a bitch,” she went with instead, knowing he’d take that as her blessing and probably run back to Jon with it, who’d surely run back to Aegon. “Makes sense.”

By now, they’d reached the circulation desk, and Patrek Mallister, who’d been sitting alone and spinning aimlessly in a chair, immediately perked up when he saw them approach. “Hey!” he said brightly. “Shit, Stark, you’re still on those?”

Robb, moving aside so Rhaenys could clock in first, shot him an exasperated look. “Come on man, we’re at work. Watch your mouth.”

“My bad,” Patrek said, and grinned at Rhaenys. “Dr. Chayle said you’d be showing me how to use some software for ‘data entry’ today.”

She smiled back. “Sounds fun.” She liked Patrek; he was funny, cool, and she’d be lying if she said it didn’t help he was cute, especially with those sparkling blue-green eyes—though she hadn’t realized he knew Robb. “You know who else is here?”

Patrek shrugged, just as Chayle, one of the librarians, came bustling out of the little hallway behind the desk, where the librarians had their offices. “Rhaenys, Robb, good morning. Rhaenys, I’m sure he’s told you, but you’ll be working with Patrek here this morning, you know what to do. As for you, Robb…” He looked up from the sheath of papers he’d been flipping through and trailed off as his eyes fell right on Robb’s crutches. “Robb. Oh dear. What happened?”

Robb smiled sheepishly. “Just an old war wound acting up,” he said. “But I’m good to do whatever you need me to.”

“Hm…” Chayle frowned and crossed his arms, thinking. “I’d intended for you to do quite a bit of running around, but I don’t think that’s going to work out now.” He snapped his fingers. “Patrek, you and Robb will be trading places. We’ll get you in circulation your next shift.”

Patrek’s megawatt smile dropped. Rhaenys glanced at Robb, and when she saw he was already looking at her, immediately looked away. After a moment, Robb said, “That’s okay, I can still—”

“I’ve made up my mind,” Chayle said cheerfully. “Patrek, why don’t you take that cart right there? When you’re finished, come back down here and I’ll send someone with you to start making the book drop rounds. Robb, you just take Patrek’s seat. Rhaenys, that stack of books has your name on it. If anyone needs me, you know where I’ll be.”

With that, Chayle ducked back into his office and shut the door behind him. Patrek flopped back into his seat. “This blows.” He looked up at Rhaenys, squinting one eye. “You working Sunday?” She shook her head and he groaned. “Fuck me.”

“Pat,” Robb said sharply. Patrek promptly flipped him off, lurching to his feet and grabbing a cart.

“Hey,” she said, flashing Patrek her prettiest smile as he passed her. “I’ll see you next week though, right?”

The sparkle returned to his eyes. “Yeah?”

“Totally.”

After Patrek disappeared in the direction of the elevators, Robb joked, “Gods, what a mouth. Would it kill him to show a little professionalism?”

“Maybe.” If he wanted to keep the conversation going, well, whatever. _I don’t have anyone else to talk to anyway,_ she thought as she took her usual seat and peeled off her raincoat. “I didn’t know you two were friends.”

Robb had ducked down to carefully place his crutches on the floor beneath the desk. “I guess,” he said as he came back up. “He’s on the water polo team with my foster brother. Sometimes we’re at the same parties and stuff.”

For a split second, Rhaenys thought _foster brother_ was just a particularly bizarre roundabout way of avoiding saying Jon’s name. Then she remembered. “Theon, right?”

“Yeah. You’ve met him, haven’t you?”

Rhaenys nodded. The few times they’d been in proximity—mostly back two years ago when she’d had that brief stint of playing nice—he hadn’t acknowledged her but for a lazy smile, like she could have been anyone. Honestly, she remembered liking that about him. “Hey, isn’t he from the Iron Islands? So’s my new roommate.”

“Really? I didn’t think we had a lot of Ironborn students. I’m sure Theon would love to—” Robb cut himself off, shooting her an apologetic look. “I mean, not that he would, you know. Meet her.” 

“Oh yeah, I know.” Absently, she cracked her knuckles. “So did you know anyone else here?”

“Nah. Just Gilly and Sam.”

Without thinking, Rhaenys said, “And me.”

For a moment, Robb just looked at her and Rhaenys, suddenly feeling indignant, held his gaze—she’d already said it, so she might as well commit. “And you,” he agreed, and smiled.

She looked at him for a second longer before nodding briskly and turning back to her computer. “You can pull your chair over here,” she said. “I’ll show you how to use this.”

* * *

Honestly, it was fine. There wasn’t much else to say other than that it was fine. They didn’t talk much more after that, at least not about anything personal. Robb did exactly what she told him to with minimal questions, and Rhaenys just did her work. Ellery Vance and Gilly joined them at 11, which was when Chayle made a reappearance to send Robb off to monitor the computer lab. Rhaenys was not exactly disappointed when that happened.

Patrek clocked out for the day at noon, the same time she was clocking back in after her lunch, and for a split second, while she flirted with him at the clock in computer, she considered inviting him to their party, before deciding she didn’t want to commit _quite_ that much yet. And anyway, it felt shitty to invite him but not Gilly, her best work friend, and she couldn’t invite Gilly without inviting Sam, and she couldn’t invite Sam without inviting Jon. So there was that too.

Still, he really was cute.

And a couple of hours after that, while Rhaenys was staring at her screen trying to figure out why the hell these numbers weren’t adding up, Chayle called her name and told her she could leave for the day.

“Huh?” Tearing her eyes from the spreadsheet, Rhaenys glanced at the time—a few minutes to two—and craned around in her seat to look at him. “But I’m scheduled till four.”

“Mistake,” Chayle said cheerfully—he said everything cheerfully, really. “You’re at thirty hours, so you’re done for the week. Go get a head start on your weekend.”

“Are you sure?” Sure, she’d kind of figured it was a mistake when she’d seen her schedule, but she wasn’t going to say no to two extra hours of pay, considering how her availability would plummet once classes began. “Cause I don’t mind—”

“I’ll see you next week, Rhaenys!” Chayle said, already bustling off. “Enjoy your weekend!”

Well, that was that. Rhaenys made a note for the next person and logged off her computer, then shot off a text to Brienne, telling her she was leaving work early and could pick her up. “Well, that’s it for me,” she said, standing up and stretching. “You two have fun in my honor.”

“Ha ha,” Ellery deadpanned, while Gilly made a face at her. “You asshole.”

“Hey, if it was up to me, I’d be right here with you,” she said, and didn’t mention how they both got to sleep in. “At least you aren’t working tomorrow?”

“I am,” Gilly sighed. “Covering a shift. But at least Sam will be here too.”

“See? Always look on the bright side.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a guy approaching the desk with an armful of what looked like textbooks, and she took that as her cue to retreat. “Stay strong you guys!” 

While Gilly explained to the guy that hoarding course materials like that was not allowed, Rhaenys was trying to simultaneously shrug into her raincoat and punch in her employee ID to clock out when she heard the distinct sound of rubber rhythmically hitting linoleum, and she looked up to see Robb approaching.

“Feel better, man,” Ellery said as Robb came behind the desk. “Have a good weekend.”

“Thanks, you too,” Robb said, and smiled at Rhaenys. “You’re leaving too?”

“Yeah.” She moved aside so he could clock out too and for whatever reason, decided to wait. Gilly was still patiently speaking to the dude, so she only waved.

Like she had that morning, Rhaenys matched her pace with Robb’s, though honestly, he was pretty good on those crutches. “So,” she said, mostly to be polite, “your roommate’s picking you up? The Smalljon?”

“Ha, him?” Robb scoffed. “I already owe him for the ride this morning, and believe me, that’s not a position you wanna be in. I’ll wait for the bus.”

Rhaenys felt her phone buzz in her pocket, and pulled it out to check. “When’s the bus coming?” she asked absently, reading Brienne's text; _I already got a ride, thank you! See you at home!_

“2:28,” Robb was saying, coming to a pause at the front doors. “Missed the 1:58, so I’ll probably get food at the student union or something while I wait. You?”

 _Don’t do it,_ a little voice the back of her mind told her. _Don’t do it. Don’t do it._

And then, inexplicably, her uncle’s face. Maybe that was what made her do it.

“I was going to pick up my roommate, but she got a ride,” she said, slipping her phone back into her pocket and turning to face him. “So if you want, I could just take you home.”

_Fuck._

Robb looked so surprised that for a moment, she thought he’d make the decision for her. Maybe that would be a good thing. “Or you can go find something to eat,” she added, like she didn’t care either way. “It’s whatever.”

“No, that’s okay. We have food at home, I should save my money.” He kind of laughed, then smiled at her; not a polite, friendly smile, but the kind that was… well, the only word that came to mind was _warm._ “Yeah, I’d love a ride if you don’t mind. Thanks. That’d be really cool.”

She really was being so nice. But for some reason, she still couldn’t make herself smile back. Instead, she pushed through the door out into the rain, and held it open for him to follow her through. “No problem,” she said. “This way.”

Outside, the rain had let up a little, but even so, she pulled her hood farther up over her face. “So how’s your knee?” she asked after a few moments. She’d figured out that Robb was willing to leave the onus of conversation on her, which she both appreciated and found mildly nerve-wracking. 

“Better,” he said. “But the first thing I’m doing when I get home is hooking up the cold machine.”

“Mm, nice.” She remembered her mom having to hide the machine because she thought Rhaenys was using it too much—and to be fair, her mom had been right, though she'd been pissed about it at the time. “Must really kill, though. I don’t think I went back on crutches at all after coming off them.”

“It really isn’t that bad,” Robb said. “I wore my brace to walk my dog this morning, but it's annoying to fit over pants and shorts didn’t seem work appropriate.”

“You don’t think the crutches might have been more distracting?”

Robb actually laughed. “Well, it got me out of shelving books, so I think I made the right decision.”

The garage she’d parked in was just a few minutes walk from the library, and they spent the whole way talking about… well, their knees. It was easy; both personal and impersonal, it didn’t mean anything at all, and by the time she was holding the garage door open and following him inside, she felt more at ease than she had in hours.

“Over here,” she said when he turned in the wrong direction coming off the elevator. “The Jeep.”

“The orange one?” She nodded; hers was the only Jeep in the garage anyway. “Wow, the color’s really cool.”

“My cousin thinks it’s ugly as sin.”

“Nah, it’s great! I bet you’ve never lost it in a parking lot.”

“No.” And another thing—it was getting easier to smile. “Not yet, at least. You can throw your crutches in the back seat.” 

Rhaenys climbed into the driver’s side while Robb opened the back door and stopped. “What’s this?”

“It’s for my cat.” Balerion had taken a liking to a kitty condo Dany’s cats had long outgrown, so she’d gifted it to him. The thing was massive, somewhere between Dany and Rhaenys in height, and she’d had to fold down her back seats and lay it down diagonally just to make it fit. “Daenerys gave it to me.”

“That was nice of her.” Robb carefully put his crutches on the floor of her car before shutting the door and coming to join her up front, swinging in easily. “You and Brienne can manage?”

 _We’ll have to,_ she was going to say, but then her phone chose that exact moment to connect to the Bluetooth in her car, and before the words could even start to leave her mouth, the Jonas Brothers were _blasting_ through her speakers. Her hand snapped out to lower the volume, wincing, in part because _honestly when are you going to learn, if you’re blasting music turn it down before you get out of the car before you burst your eardrums_ and in part because… well, she was 22 and it was the Jonas Brothers.

“No, you can turn it up,” Robb said, and he was smiling at her again. “I love this song.”

Okay, her turn to be surprised. She couldn’t help raising her eyebrow. “Don’t say that.”

“No, seriously. See, I know the words.” Closing his eyes, Robb sang along for a few lines, even tapping the beat against his thigh. He had an objectively nice voice, low and husky, though she immediately banished that thought. When he opened them again, his face was slightly pink, but he didn’t look embarrassed. “Turn it up.”

Rhaenys, honest to gods, didn’t know what to say to that; all she could do was turn it up, though not nearly as loud as it had been. As she pulled out of her spot and drove toward the exit, she remembered he had two younger sisters, teenagers. Yeah, that definitely explained it.

There was no line to leave the garage, luckily, and Rhaenys came to a stop by the cashier’s window. “Hold on,” she said to Robb, reaching to the back where she’d tossed her bag, but before she could even pull it forward, he was stopping her.

“No, I got it,” he said, handing her two wrinkled five dollar bills from his wallet. “Here.”

“No, Robb—”

He interrupted her. “Let me thank you for the ride, okay? Think of it as gas money.”

Unless he lived _a lot_ farther than she thought, no way was she burning eight dollars of gas taking him home. “Robb—”

“Please?” 

It was the please. Rhaenys glanced over at the attendant; a fellow student, blinking impassively at them through the glass. “Fine,” she said, and plucked the bills from his fingers, reaching out her window to drop it in the payment box. Half a minute later, the attendant was passing back their change, which she immediately dropped in Robb’s lap. “Don’t argue.”

He folded the bills and tucked them into his wallet. “Thanks.”

“I’m the one that should be thanking you.” She looked at him sideways. “I hate paying for parking.”

“It’s a scam,” he agreed. “You can take a right up here.”

Somehow, they talked the entire drive, about ACL tears and work and the Jonas Brothers, though that wasn’t saying much. Robb didn’t live super far from campus, less than ten minutes out, but it was farther than most students. And unlike most students, he lived in a house, like a real, single family home.

“How many roommates do you have?” she asked as she pulled up to the curb in front. It very much looked like a college house; a medium-sized bungalow, dark blue with white trim, not particularly well-kept, with a slightly overgrown yard. There were two cars in the driveway, one of which was the massive pickup that had dropped him off that morning.

“Six of us in total,” he said. “Had to get creative with rooms, but I needed a yard for my dog. Rent is cheap, though.”

“Is that him?” Rhaenys asked, pointing. Robb turned. A large grey dog was standing just behind the storm door, watching them. Even from here, Rhaenys could see the bright gold of his eyes, and bizarrely, she was reminded of Balerion.

“Shit,” she heard him say. “If that door isn’t locked, I swear—” He began to feel along her door for the window control, and Rhaenys reached for her center console, rolling it down for him. “Grey Wind, stay!” he shouted, holding out his hand palm down. “Stay!”

Grey Wind didn’t move. “Is he going to stay?” Rhaenys asked.

“Hope so.” Turning back to her, Robb looked a little uncertain. “He’s well-behaved, I swear, but the guys are always forgetting they have to lock the door locked if the inner one is open. All it takes is one squirrel.”

After a moment, Rhaenys said, “You should probably go then.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I should.” Robb gave her a rueful smile. “Thanks again for the ride, I mean it. Thanks a lot.”

She watched him flip his hood up and climb out of her car, careful not to put too much weight on his bad knee. Her back door opened and shut, and he was on his crutches, starting to head up the path to his house.

She didn’t know what possessed her to do what she did next. Maybe she was thinking about Gilly, or Patrek, or Pod. Maybe it was Aegon. Or maybe it was her uncle.

Whatever or whoever it was, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was Rhaenys leaning over and shouting through the still open window, “Robb!”

He hadn’t made it far, only a couple of steps, and he looked over his shoulder at her. “Yeah?”

She could still backtrack, say he forgot his wallet or something, but for some reason, she didn’t. “What are you doing this weekend?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Uh, nothing,” he said, coming back toward the car so he didn’t have to raise his voice. “Do you want me to cover a shift?”

“What? No.” Gods, he was too nice. He was too nice. “My roommates and I are having a housewarming party tomorrow night. You can come if you want.”

If she thought he’d looked surprised that morning, or when they were leaving work, or even just thirty seconds ago when she’d called his name, it was nothing compared to the look on his face right then. “Really?” he asked, like he thought he’d misheard her.

“Yeah. Totally.” And before she could lose her nerve, Rhaenys added, “See if Theon wants to come, he can meet my roommate.”

For a split second his expression clouded over, and Rhaenys knew that if she was going to commit, she had to _commit._ Strangely enough, she didn’t feel nervous, or anything really. She just wanted to get it out. “And Jon too,” she added finally. “See if he wants to come too. Tell him Dany will be there.”

And that was it. Robb’s face broke into a grin, like he’d just opened the most incredible birthday present anyone could have ever asked for. “Okay,” he said, eyes sparkling. “Yeah, that sounds really cool. We’ll be there.”

And Rhaenys smiled back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know in the comments if you see any weird phrasing or typos. This has not been proofread. I have work in 6.5 hours. I am going to bed.


	4. Party! Party! Party!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhaenys bites off more than she can chew. Like, A LOT more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I missed my arbitrary one month deadline but DID manage to make my arbitrary two month deadline, so that's good news! This chapter is also quite a bit longer than I originally intended for it to be, so I hope that makes up for it some.
> 
> As always, this is for you, KS!

_Friday, August 28th  
2:32 PM_

Rhaenys took the stairs two at a time when she got home. Their apartment was on the fourth floor, and there wasn’t anything wrong with the elevator, but she was really, really in need of some exercise. She was like, 70 percent sure that impulsivity was a symptom of inadequate circulation. Or something.

The ache in her knee was sharper by the time she reached her door, and she dropped her keys trying to unlock it. “Seven hells,” she muttered, ducking down quickly to retrieve them. Her second attempt was successful, and Rhaenys burst into her apartment to see Brienne sitting at the counter, eating takeout and watching something on her phone.

“Hey,” Brienne said, looking up and taking out one earbud. “I got us lunch, yours is in…” She trailed off, watching as Rhaenys nearly fell over trying to tear off her boots without unlacing them. “Are you okay?”

“Great,” Rhaenys panted as her foot finally popped free. “Actually, do you remember Monday?” Funny how that now felt like eons ago. “I asked if you thought I was crazy and you completely dodged the question?” Her other boot clattered to the floor and she marched into the kitchen, straight for the cabinet over the fridge. “As it turns out, I am.” She grabbed the tequila—nearly empty—and found a shot glass, then turned around to face her. “I have completely, totally, and entirely lost my marbles.” With that, she uncapped the bottle, poured herself a shot, and tossed it back.

And immediately hunched over, coughing, because she hadn’t even caught her breath yet. _Idiot._

“Rhaenys!” She heard Brienne get up, and a second later she was pounding her on the back, which, while very sweet, was totally not what she needed right now. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I’m not choking, Brienne!” Rhaenys managed as soon as she had enough air in her lungs to speak. She straightened, wiped a few tears away with the back of her hand, and made a motion to pour another shot. Brienne immediately put a stop to that.

“Drink some water,” Brienne said, returning the bottle to the cabinet and putting the glass in the sink. “And there’s food in the microwave.”

“I’m not hungry.” Her throat burned, both from the alcohol and that little coughing fit. She pushed her hair out of her face, trying to take steady breaths. No point in beating around the bush. Just rip the bandaid off. “I invited Robb to our party tomorrow. And I told him to bring Jon.”

Brienne couldn’t hide her shock—she was easier to read than a baby book. For a few seconds, she just gaped at her. “Did your brother tell you to do that?”

“Nope, it was all me.” Fucking _Aegon._ He would love this, wouldn’t he? Well, he wouldn’t be hearing about it from her, that was for sure. The reality of what she’d done was starting to set in and she really, really didn’t like how that was making her feel. “Why, I don’t know! But I did it, and now I have to deal with it.” Again, she pushed her hair back. Deal with it. How the _fuck_ was she supposed to deal with it? “Brienne, I really need another shot.”

Brienne looked at her like she was nuts (which, as they’d just established, she was). “No,” she said. “Could you please sit down?”

“I—whatever, fine.” Any other time she might have put up more of a fight, but the whole running up three flights of stairs when her knee was already bugging her had been a major mistake, and now she’d probably need ice later. She shuffled around the counter and took a seat right next to Brienne’s half eaten burrito bowl. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” she groaned. “I’m so fucked.”

“No, you aren’t.” The microwave opened and closed, then the fridge, and then Brienne was putting an unopened burrito bowl and one of Arianne’s fancy bottled waters before her. “So you had a change of heart? That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

It was only a good thing if that was indeed what it was, and not, say, temporary insanity. She started to crack the knuckles on her right hand. “You know, if you and Loras hadn’t decided to go to Chipotle, I wouldn’t even be in this mess,” she said. “I only gave Robb a ride home because you didn’t need me.”

Something flickered across Brienne’s face, something Rhaenys couldn’t quite read, and in hindsight, she should have checked it right then and there. But whatever it had been, it was gone quickly enough, replaced by surprise and a raised eyebrow. “You took Robb home?”

“Yeah.” Rhaenys was starting to feel the alcohol, and she moved onto her left hand. “Uh, he tore his ACL over the summer and with this weather—he was on crutches. He missed his bus, so I just thought—you know, why make him wait if I wasn’t doing anything anyway?”

She could see the gears turning behind Brienne’s blue eyes. “Didn’t you tear your ACL too?” she asked. “When you were a kid, right?”

“Eighth grade, yeah.” She shrugged, trying not to remember Robb’s bright, earnest smiling shining out at her from beneath his hood. “I don’t know. He was good company, I guess. He paid for my parking. And then I took him home.”

“And then you invited him?”

“Well, he wasn’t doing anything this weekend.” Rhaenys chose to leave out the part about her being the one to ask if he was doing anything. “I don’t know. I knew he wouldn’t come if Jon wasn’t invited, so.”

Brienne studied her. “So… you didn’t want to invite Jon?”

“No, I—" Uncle Aemon. Jon’s hockey game. The guilt. Suddenly, she felt tears prick her eyes, unbidden. “I don’t _know.”_ She turned away, not wanting Brienne to see, and looked toward the hallway where her bedroom was. “Where’s Balerion? Is he sleeping? I’m going to bed.”

“Hey, don’t. Wait.” Brienne hurried toward her, and before Rhaenys could even get to her feet, she was wrapping her arms around her. Brienne wasn’t much of a hugger, and almost never initiated contact, so her hold was a little awkward, but Rhaenys leaned into it gratefully. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t pry.”

“No, it’s okay.” Rhaenys wiped her eyes. “I think it’s just the tequila.”

Brienne was silent for a moment. “For the record,” she said eventually. “I don’t think you’ve lost your marbles.”

“No, I have.” Rhaenys pulled away, feeling a little more grounded. That freakout really hadn’t been necessary, she decided. She just had to be rational about this. “You know, he’s probably not even going come. I know I wouldn’t, if I were him.”

Before saying it, that hadn’t even really occurred to her, but now that the words were out there, it seemed obvious. Of course he wouldn’t come. Six months ago, she and Aegon had gotten into the biggest fight of their lives, during which he had shouted at her, “You look at Jon like he’s the gunk at the bottom of your shoe, and for what? For some bullshit _Dad_ did? Can’t you just be nice to him for _three fucking hours?”_ He hadn’t been lying.

So of course Jon wouldn’t come. He’d have some easy, believable excuse and they could both forget this momentary break in the status quo had ever happened.

That should have made her feel better, but for some reason, it didn’t. Rhaenys put her head in her hands. “I have a headache.”

“Rhaenys.” Brienne sat down next to her and slipped a hand into the crook of her elbow. “Listen to me. Please try not to stress about it. He’s going to come.”

“You don’t know that, Brienne.”

“Yes, but… I do know that Daenerys is coming, isn’t she? And that Aegon wants you to get along.”

“Even better. He only comes because other people are making him.” Gods, why did she care so much? She really shouldn’t care so much. “Robb said he’d come, and I told him to bring his brother too.” She lifted her head, thinking. “I’m going to ask Gilly if she and Sam want to come.” Not because she thought she needed to bribe him to come, of course. Just for in case he did decide to come, he could talk to _them_ and not to her.

“See?” Rhaenys looked sideways to see Brienne smiling at her. “It’ll be fine. The more the merrier, right?”

Right. Of course. She was freaking out over nothing. Whatever happened, they were having a party tomorrow. And she was going to have fun if it killed her.

* * *

“Just try it,” Asha said, popping open a beer bottle and sliding it across the counter. “You’ll like it.”

Rhaenys, seated at a stool, picked it up and brought it to her nose, sniffing experimentally. Her septum ring clinked against the rim, making her wince. “It’s like… briny.”

“Don’t be a wimp.”

“It’s just an observation!” Rhaenys pulled it back so she could inspect it again. “Is that a squid?”

“Kraken,” Asha said shortly.

“Oh.” Rhaenys rolled it between her hands. The glass was dark, almost black, and looked sinister. “So is it like, imported?”

Asha snorted. “It’s just beer, it’s not going to kill you. Look.” She took a sip from her wine glass. “I already tried your fancy Dornish wine, didn’t I? Fair’s fair.”

Rhaenys gave the apartment a cursory glance for moral support, but there was none. Brienne was stretched out on the couch in the living room, texting away and blissfully ignorant of the fact that her best friend was about to poison herself, mere feet away. Arianne was locked in her room, still getting ready, although she would probably egg Asha on just for laughs. Even Balerion was ignoring her, perched on the highest level of his new kitty condo and his attention divided between whatever was going on in the streets below and _The Real Housewives of Oldtown_ on the TV.

Rhaenys pressed the bottle to her lips. “You’ll finish it if I don’t like it?”

“Sure.”

She shrugged (well, fair _was_ fair) and took a swig. It was sour, kind of like a Dornish red, and not as salty as she’d expected from the smell. At Asha’s raised eyebrow, she burped.

“You’re disgusting.” Rhaenys looked over her shoulder in time to see Arianne finally emerge from her room. “And since when did you like beer?”

Rhaenys pointed at Asha. “She made me.”

Asha just opened the fridge and pulled out another. “You’re welcome to join us.”

“I’m good.” Arianne's critical eye didn't leave Rhaenys through. "Isn't that Nym's top?"

Rhaenys looked down at her red satin camisole. "She said I could borrow it."

"Uh-huh. And did she say you could bring it to KL too?"

"...if she's missed it, she hasn't said anything?"

Arianne raised an eyebrow as if to say _I'm definitely telling on you,_ and reached for her antique copper shaker, gathering the makings of a cosmo. She gave Asha a brilliant, obviously fake smile. “You want one of these?”

“I’m good.” Asha returned the beer to the fridge. “I prefer my liquor straight.”

“Oh? Think you’re too good for mixed drinks? Too girly for you?”

Asha’s mouth quirked up in a smirk, and Rhaenys decided to put a stop to this. “We should do shots!” she said cheerfully. “To celebrate!”

Asha and Arianne both looked at her sideways. They were both wearing eyeliner, Rhaenys noticed; Asha’s dark eyes rimmed in black pencil, already smudged, while Arianne wore bold cobalt wings that extended out to her temples, no doubt making up for the boring, office-appropriate makeup she wore during the week. “Celebrate what exactly?” Arianne asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Rhaenys clasped her hands together. “We have officially been roommates for one entire week. Isn’t that celebratory?”

Now they looked at each other. For a second, Rhaenys thought one of them was going to say something smart, but then Asha shrugged and took the vodka from Arianne’s hand. “I’ll never say no to a drink,” she said, smiling lazily. “Brienne, you want in?”

Brienne didn’t seem to hear her; clearly whoever she was talking to was far more interesting. “Hey,” Rhaenys said, a little louder. “Brienne!”

“Huh?” Her head jerked up, her expression startled. “What?”

Another thing that, in hindsight, Rhaenys probably should have questioned. Brienne really didn’t spend a lot of time on her phone; she preferred phone calls to texting, and only used social media to make a point of leaving a like on every picture she was tagged in, usually after games or the occasions she was caught out in the wild. But Rhaenys wasn’t thinking about any of that. She just said, “Come on! We’re doing one-week-roomie-versary shots.”

“Oh.” Brienne sat up straighter. Behind her, Balerion began to make his way down the platforms. “You know I don’t drink.”

Asha made a sound of disappointment. Rhaenys ignored her. “We have other stuff, dummy!” she said, waving her over. “Come on! It’s symbolic!”

Balerion followed Brienne into the kitchen and Rhaenys reached down to haul him into her arms. “He’s our roommate too!” she said to Asha’s raised eyebrow.

“Mm-hmm.” Asha poured three shots of vodka and one cranberry juice. “Well, I’m going to need to see some ID before I serve him.”

“Out of luck, babe.” Rhaenys kissed the top of his head and accepted her glass. “A toast, ladies? To fifty-one more weeks of smooth sailing.”

Arianne snorted. “Don’t jinx us,” she teased.

“Now who’s superstitious?” Rhaenys held her glass out. “Fifty-one weeks!”

Their glasses _clinked_ together and Rhaenys tipped her head back, letting the shot slide down her throat. That was her third drink, she noted; she’d snuck the rest of the tequila a couple hours ago and had a hard lemonade with dinner (Asha’s beer didn’t count because she probably wasn’t going to finish it). So really, she was doing pretty well for… not even eight o’clock.

She was just trying to time it right. Everyone said she was at her nicest when she was buzzed.

They were all still holding their shot glasses when there were two quick knocks at the door before it was opened, and the tall, broad figure of Renly Baratheon was striding into their apartment like he owned the place. “Don’t worry, Arianne, I’m here!” he announced. Right behind him was Loras Tyrell, grinning, and a few paces behind him was who could only be Podrick Payne, a box of beer in one hand and hard soda in the other. “The party can officially start.”

Asha threw Rhaenys a look of baffled amusement; she grinned right back as he began his rounds. “Brienne Tarth, having a drink?” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder and kissing her cheek. Three years ago, that would have made her go beet red and completely lose the ability to speak, but now she was unfazed. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“It was cranberry juice,” she said. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

Renly laughed, and turned to his other side to kiss Rhaenys too. Arianne rolled her eyes. “You’re early,” she said, indignant. “And stop walking into my apartment like that. Have some manners.”

“Door was open, Arianne.” Renly walked over, leaning down to kiss her cheek as well. He was nearly as tall as Brienne, which meant Arianne just barely came up to his shoulder, so he really had to stoop. “We thought you might like a little help, but of course you wouldn’t. You’ve really outdone yourself this time. Three charcuterie boards? This must be one of the seven heavens.”

“Hmph.” Arianne zeroed in on Podrick. “And not you using poor Podrick here as a pack mule!” She grabbed the beer and pointed to where he should set down the soda. “You two ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”

“Oh, him? He offered.” Renly winked at Rhaenys before setting his sights on Asha. “Renly Baratheon. You must be Asha.”

“I am.” Asha’s smile was thin and sharp; she held out a hand for a shake. “You’re not kissing my cheek.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Renly took her hand and shook once, before slowly raising it to his lips. “But surely this…?”

Asha cackled as he kissed her hand. “Such a charmer,” she said. “Arianne, where’d you find this guy?”

“Business 111, freshman year,” she said shortly. She and Pod were offloading beer and soda into the fridge. “Don’t waste your efforts, he’s taken.”

“Loras Tyrell,” Loras said, squeezing into the little space between Rhaenys and Brienne and leaning forward on his elbows. “You might have heard of me, I’m on the team with Brienne. Starting quarterback.”

“No.” Asha shook her head, grinning all the while. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Uh, okay.” Loras half-laughed, clearly expecting her to laugh along, but she just turned back to Renly and Arianne. His smiled faded, and he looked at Brienne. “She’s kidding, right?”

“Probably not,” Brienne answered.

Rhaenys added, “She did know Brienne though!”

Loras looked so genuinely confused that she couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, we can’t all live and breathe football,” she teased, wrapping her free arm around his waist. “Be grateful for the fans you do have!”

“I don’t like the way you said that.” Loras looked down and leaned away. “Hey, no hugs. I’m not touching that cat.”

“Cat?” That was Podrick. He came around the counter, eyes wide. “You have a cat? What’s his name?”

“Pod, stay back,” Loras warned, already backing away. “You might lose an eye.”

“Loras, stop exaggerating!” Besides, that incident had been completely his fault anyway. Rhaenys smiled at Pod, lifting Balerion a little so he could see. “His name is Balerion the Black Dread. Do you have a cat too?”

“A dog. His name his Hero.” He held his hand out, fingers splayed, looking at her. “Can I?”

“Oh yeah! If you’re very gentle, he’ll probably let you pet him.”

“I can’t watch this.” Loras headed toward the living room. “You guys mind if I change the channel? My aunt’s on TV, I can’t watch.”

“Go to the music app!” Arianne called, sticking her head around Renly. “Brienne put together the best playlist earlier today. Hey Siri, open my Apple Music! Brienne, go show him!”

* * *

More people trickled in over the next forty-five minutes or so. It was a pretty small party, so the guest list was far from extensive. Wynafryd Manderly and Alysanne Bracken were first, Rhaenys’s friends and fellow computer science ladies. Next, Jayne Ladybright and Margaery Tyrell, Arianne’s sorority sisters; most of her friends had since graduated, but Jayne was doing her master's too and Marg was Arianne’s favorite little protégé, so she got special treatment. And finally, Asha’s friends, an Aly of her own and some guy named Tris (the latter of whom Rhaenys honestly couldn’t tell if Asha even liked).

Gilly and Sam weren’t coming. Apparently it was date night, which was just her luck.

So that left four. Rhaenys, sitting at the counter with Wyn and Aly and only half participating in the conversation, casually checked her phone for any messages, maybe an update. Nothing. She’d last gotten a text from Dany a little before 6:30, telling her that she was just leaving her house and would be picking everyone up. Considering the ferry, the drive from Dragonstone was a little under an hour, and while Rhaenys had a rough idea of how far Robb and Jon lived from each other, she had no idea where Theon factored into that—maybe they’d just get together somewhere so Dany could pick them all up at once. Whatever the situation was, by her math, they should have gotten here by a little after eight, 8:30 at the absolute latest.

But the clock was steadily ticking toward nine and there was still no word.

She turned her phone face down and let her eyes drift around the apartment. Arianne had dragged out the expensive cyvasse table her father had gotten her as a graduation gift, and Margaery was teaching Podrick how to play while he gazed at her, clearly enraptured. Loras was leaned over the arm of the loveseat, watching them and looking vaguely perplexed. Renly sat next to him, involved in some animated conversation with Brienne, and Arianne and Jayne were next to her, each holding a jewel pink drink and laughing. And Asha and her crew were out on the balcony with the door shut tight, rolling blunts and smoking up a storm. A half-eaten charcuterie board was on the table, and music played softly from the TV.

Since the party started, Rhaenys hadn’t stopped drinking. She’d finished Asha’s beer (kind of an acquired taste, though she probably wouldn’t ask for one again), and had just polished off some drink Wynafryd had made her with dragonberry rum and Sprite. She really preferred margaritas, but when they’d gone to the liquor store earlier that day to stock up for the party and replace the tequila she’d finished, there had been none from her favorite brand, and it was the one thing she was picky about. So rum and soda simply was going to have to do.

She was well past buzzed now, and probably the drunkest person in the room. Lucky thing Rhaenys was like, really good at acting sober. And other than feeling a lot warmer than she should, she actually pretty much totally felt fine. She just had to try not to move around too much. Easy.

Arianne and Brienne had each come by to check on her, but she’d shrugged them both off. She really, really didn’t need anyone hovering right now. Or worse yet, cutting her off. She’d just told them that she was having a great time and Dany was on her way and that in no uncertain terms should they hover over her. And then she left it at that.

She could always text her, of course. But Rhaenys really, really didn’t want to make this a bigger deal than it needed to be. There was probably a perfectly logical explanation. She just had to figure out what it was. Like for example, Dany missed the ferry and had to wait. Or maybe Jon had changed his mind, was refusing to come, and Dany and Robb were tasked with dragging him out of that shitty old frat house against his will. Maybe they even had to call Aegon for backup and everyone involved was too much of an asshole to give her a heads up and—

Okay, no. Actually, she would not try to figure out what the hold up was. That was a slippery slope to spiraling, and spiraling was very, very bad.

“Hey.”

“Huh?” Rhaenys looked up to see Loras grab a ginger ale and take the stool at the short end of the counter, the one no one ever really sat at because it was kind of in the way. “Oh, hey. What’s up?”

“Nothing.” Loras smiled at Wynafryd and Aly, but his words were for Rhaenys. “I’ve given up on trying to understand that game my sister’s playing. You?”

“Nothing.” Looking at Loras’s sweet, handsome face, she realized—this was all his fault, in a way. “Although you know what?” She reached for his ginger ale and poured a decent amount into her empty glass, ignoring his protests. Served him right. “Stop hogging my roommate, actually.”

Loras took his can back. “Are you drunk?”

“Don’t try to deflect. I know you guys went to Chipotle yesterday. The food was sweet, but you still should have invited me.” _And then I wouldn’t be in this mess._

“Uh.” Loras reached for the charcuterie board, using a cracker to scrape up a generous amount of brie. “Are you talking about a different yesterday than the one that was yesterday? Because if you’re talking about yesterday-yesterday, wasn’t me.”

She blinked at him. “Stop trying to confuse me.”

“My bad.” He popped the cracker in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “I didn’t go anywhere yesterday. I dropped Pod and some of the runts back at their dorms and went home. Didn’t leave the rest of the night.”

“What?” She squinted. “No, that’s not…” She tried to remember. Was she just making this up? Did Brienne say Loras? No, obviously she had, because why would Rhaenys assume otherwise, right? “Are you sure it wasn’t you?”

“Think I’d remember that,” Loras said, reaching out and tapping the tip of her nose. “Seems you’ve got a bone to pick with someone else.”

Someone else. Rhaenys looked toward the living room, just in time to see Brienne laugh at something Renly had said. She looked really nice tonight; her hair, usually tied up in a ponytail or twisted into a skinny braid or two, was loose around her shoulders, and her blue button down printed with tiny, tiny white flowers made her eyes look even brighter and bluer than they usually did. She frowned. “Okay, so who took her home?”

Loras shrugged, unconcerned, and he ate another cracker with cheese before answering. “I don’t know,” he said. “All she told me was she had a ride. I assumed it was you. And before you ask, I left before she did, so I don’t know.”

Right, obviously. But still, something about that left her disconcerted, even though it really shouldn’t have. She took another sip of ginger ale, trying to relax, but it was hard. It was too loud, too bright, everyone was having too much fun. “Sorry, um.” She touched Wynafryd’s arm to get her and Aly’s attention. “Are you guys hot? Like, is it really hot in here?”

Three pairs of eyes looked at her with concern. “No,” Aly said. “Are you hot?”

“Yeah, actually.” Rhaenys drained her glass and pushed back out of her chair; Loras had to grab her arm to keep her from losing her balance. “Thanks! Thanks, Loras. You know, you guys, I think I’ve just had too much to drink, so I am going to just step outside for a minute. Sober up the good old fashioned way.” She glanced toward the balcony, but it was still occupied, and she’d probably go into cardiac arrest if she caught even a _sniff_ of weed right now. “Yeah, I’ll just be downstairs.”

Loras made to get up too. “I could use some air. I’ll go with you.”

“No, that’s okay!” Rhaenys remembered to keep her voice down, but it was pointless; both Arianne and Brienne were already looking at her. She smiled at them. “I have to make a phone call too.” She grabbed her phone and shoved it into her pocket. “Some jerks I invited are running late or maybe not coming at all, so I need an answer! I’m fine. I’ll be back in five minutes, swear!”

She saw Arianne and Brienne exchange a look, but neither of them got up, leaving her free to shove her feet into her sneakers, grab someone’s keys, and book it out of there.

She would have taken the stairs, but she doubted she could manage three flights in her current state without twisting an ankle or breaking her neck, so elevator it was. It was at least empty, and took her the whole way down to the first floor without any stops.

Outside, the humidity settled over her bare arms and shoulders like a sweater, and for a few minutes, she just stood on the sidewalk, counting her breaths and trying to sober up. In practice, her apartment was on a fairly busy road, but the front doors faced a smaller, quieter one. There was another building across the street, and she saw a group of girls emerge, obviously dressed for a night out. Even from here she could hear their laughter, and as she watched them pile into an Uber waiting in a red zone, she decided right then that she’d kill to be one of them right about now.

What had she been thinking? Of course this would be a flop. She was dumb for believing—even for a second—otherwise.

At least someone could have called.

The Uber pulled away and watched it go. As it slid down the street before disappearing around the corner, brake lights across the street and a little ways down caught her eye. She squinted, and took another step forward.

It was a silver Prius, not unlike the one her grandmother drove. And it was struggling to squeeze into a parallel parking spot.

For a few moments, she just stood and watched. A silver Prius was hardly a distinctive vehicle, she reminded herself. There were probably ten in her apartment building alone. The car was jutting out halfway into the road and cars were swerving around it, one even honking, but it didn’t make much progress. The spot really was tiny, and realistically probably too small, but Rhaenys found it pretty pathetic to watch all the same. It was a shame not everyone shared her particular talent for parallel parking.

Her five minutes were surely almost up. She should probably go back upstairs before someone came after her and asked why she was watching some random car fail at parallel parking. Even if she did think it was her grandmother’s car and that was Dany behind the wheel, standing there like an idiot was a waste of time regardless. If it was her grandmother’s car, then the passengers would be up soon enough anyway, and she could use that time to pick up the pieces of her scrambled brain. And if it wasn’t… well, she’d numb the sting of rejection with as much dragonberry rum as it took and sleep until Monday.

_Yikes. That was bleak._

She’d just get a little closer. Just close enough to see if she recognized any of those bumper stickers she thought she could see from this distance. That way she’d know for sure instead of… wallowing in self-pity, or something. She could run back inside before anyone even noticed her, if they were who she was looking for in the first place. Rhaenys stepped into the street, squinting…

…just in time for a car to whiz past, honking, so close she could feel the breeze and she realized, oh shit, this is why drunk people were not supposed to wander the streets alone.

Other than nearly killing her, the car had also caught the attention of the Prius driver, who slammed on the breaks as it sped and swung around a corner. Rhaenys was too focused on trying to keep her heart inside her chest to even think to hide or run or do much of anything, really.

Then someone was shouting her name. The Prius, jutting halfway into the street once again, had its front window rolled down. There was a familiar silver head sticking out of it.

“Rhaenys!” Dany shouted. “What are you doing?”

“Dany!” Rhaenys didn’t know how to even begin describing the feeling that washed over her right then. She remembered to look both ways this time, and the first thing she did when she reached the car was stick her head inside the window and kiss her aunt on the cheek. Her lip gloss, mostly faded away by now, left behind a faint, shimmery red smudge. “Hi!”

“Sorry we’re late.” Dany reached up to awkwardly hug her. “We got caught up.”

“I’m just glad you made it.” A car swerved around them, yet another honker. Rhaenys straightened, pretending not to notice the figure in the passenger seat, his face in shadow. “So are you coming up?”

Dany’s expression clouded over. “As soon as I park in this spot.”

“You’re not gonna fit, babe.” It was probably a Mini Cooper or something that had left this space, because no normal sized car would ever fit. Dany’s bumper was nearly backed up against huge black Range Rover behind her, but still a decent portion of the car was out in the street. “And if even you do, you’re never getting out.”

Dany looked toward the passenger seat for a moment; Rhaenys saw a shoulder shrug. When Dany looked up at her again, her expression was one of defeat. “We’ll be up in a minute,” she said. “I’ll take another lap.”

“Oh, well.” Rhaenys looked over her shoulder, pointing toward her building. “You don’t have to do that. Our parking garage is just around the corner. It’s Saturday night, there are probably some spots left.”

“Are you sure that’s allowed?”

“We have visitor spots.” Rhaenys cracked a knuckle. “Uh, there’s a code, so I’ll have to—”

Dany unlocked the doors. “Get in.”

Rhaenys reached for the back door, but it popped open before she could make contact. She saw Robb sliding over toward the passenger side, grinning at her. “Thank you,” she said, slipping inside.

“Hey, no problem.”

Rhaenys decided to forgo buckling her seatbelt, and just folded her hands in her lap instead. As Dany pulled away from the curb, Jon glanced over his shoulder. Their eyes met.

Rhaenys would have thought she’d feel _something_ upon seeing her half-brother for the first time in six months, especially when she’d spent the last thirty-six hours spiraling about this exact moment. But she didn’t. She really didn’t feel much of anything, actually.

She wondered if that was a good sign. Or maybe she was just that drunk.

_Say something!_

“I’m glad you guys made it,” she said again, and made sure to maintain eye contact. She remembered to smile and somewhere in the back of her mind hoped it didn’t look too fake. Maybe it wouldn’t matter; the car was too dark to see much of anything anyway.

Jon’s expression was hard to read, still half in shadow. The last time she’d seen him was the day after the funeral, when he’d come to say goodbye to their father and Aegon before they flew back to Essos later that night. He’d looked exhausted then, like he hadn’t been sleeping. “Thanks for inviting us,” he said, then paused. “You know, you didn’t have to—"

“I wanted to,” Rhaenys said, not missing a beat.

As Dany rounded the corner toward the garage, they passed under a streetlight. It was just a second, but that was long enough for Rhaenys to see the faint surprise on his face. He looked forward again.

Rhaenys leaned forward to tell Dany the code and the gate slid open. She’d been right; there was still visitor parking left, just the one spot, but one was all they needed. “See?” Rhaenys had said, pointing it out. “I told you!”

She was the first out of the car, and the first thing she did was go around to the back. Of course by now she knew it was her grandmother’s car, but she wanted to double check anyway. The bumper stickers wouldn’t lie to her. Some of them were Nana’s. _Dragonstone Academy._ The Titan of Braavos in silhouette. _KLU Grandparent._ A simple purple ribbon. Others were Dany’s. _Mother of Cats. Valar Morghulis. Student Driver, Back Off!_ (actually, that one was from Viserys, but no one ever peeled it off).

“That’s my favorite,” Robb said. He’d come around back without her noticing and pointed to the decal that ran across the rear window. _I hope something good happens to you today._

“Me too,” Rhaenys said, her eyes drifting away. Dany and Jon had finally climbed out, Jon holding a paper bag, Dany fluffing out her hair in the reflection of the window and wiping off Rhaenys’s lip gloss. Something occurred to her. “Oh, where’s Theon?”

She didn’t miss the look Robb and Jon exchanged. “He couldn’t make it,” Robb said easily. “But he appreciated the invitation.”

That was probably just as well. Rhaenys didn’t know if she could juggle _three_ people she barely knew, and anyway, wasn’t there something about Jon and Theon not particularly getting along? “Well, if that’s everyone,” she said, waving Dany along, “let’s go, follow me.”

The journey up to her apartment was quiet and as they rode up in the elevator, Rhaenys felt that slow drip of self-doubt start up again. So they were here. Now what? She didn’t even have Sam and Gilly as a buffer. It would all have to be her.

No, what was she thinking? She could do it, that was the whole point.

Still, it helped when Dany squeezed her hand.

“Hello, hello, hello, everyone!” Rhaenys called as she pushed her apartment door open. She smiled brightly, stepping aside so they could follow her in. “Look who I found!”

Arianne kept her expression completely under control, her perfect hostess smile betraying nothing, but the relief was plain on Brienne’s face, and Rhaenys was pretty sure she had never loved her more than in that moment. There was a chorus of introductions, but for the most part, no one paid them any mind at all other than Loras, who gestured them over. Dany and Robb took the remaining stools (Wynafryd and Aly shifted down to make room), and Jon stood with her on the other side, in the kitchen proper. Honestly, she would have preferred it if he sat, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“I can take that,” she said, reaching for the paper bag. Belatedly, he offered it.

“Robb said it was a housewarming party,” he said. He looked sullen, but Rhaenys reminded herself that he kind of always looked like that. “I thought—Egg told me you liked that one.”

“Thanks,” Rhaenys said, reaching in and grasping one of the handles. She figured it was something like peach vodka or more dragonberry rum, so imagine her surprise when she pulled out her favorite tequila, the very same brand that not one, but two of the nearby liquor stores had been all out of. For a second, she could only look at it, wondering if her eyes were deceiving her. She looked up. “Wh-where did you get this?”

Jon just shrugged. She reached back in and pulled out another. “You got us _two?”_ she asked. “Jon, holy shit.” Suddenly, it all made sense. They would have had to go to at least two liquor stores to find this, maybe even three or four, and those other ones were halfway across the city. He could have just picked up another brand, or something else altogether. Dany was sweet, but even she would have just grabbed a vodka and called it a day after the second stop. It would have had to have been Jon.

She probably would have hugged anyone else. Instead, Rhaenys said, “I make a killer margarita. Do you want one?”

“Oh, she really does,” Aly said, leaning forward. “Make me one too?”

“Of course,” she said, already washing her hands. “Anyone else? Wynnie? Robb?”

Robb smiled. “Sure.”

“Let me get out of here before I do something I regret,” Loras announced. As he grabbed his soda and stood, he shot Dany a charming smile. “Daenerys, you said political science, right? You should come meet my sister, she’s just over here.”

“Oh.” Dany glanced at Rhaenys; _will you be okay?_ her violet eyes asked. “I would love to, but—”

“You’ll love Marg, Dany,” Rhaenys said, and smiled warmly to let her know she meant it. “Let her meet her match in cyvasse.”

Dany had always enjoyed some healthy competition. She nodded and smiled up at Loras. “Just let me get something to drink.”

Rhaenys had expected Jon to take one of the newly empty seats, but he remained standing, not quite by her side, but close. He was barely any taller than she was, a couple inches at most. Rhaenys and Aegon were both tall, like their dad. Jon, unlike their dad, was not.

Unproductive. Bad thoughts. “Can you get me some ice?” she asked, only so he’d just stop _standing_ there. She held out the shaker. “Put just a few in here.”

While Jon was carefully popping ice cubes out of the tray and directly into the shaker, Wynafryd picked that moment to ask, “So how do you guys know Rhaenys? I know Dany, but…”

Two ice cubes bounced off the rim and skittered across the floor; Rhaenys kicked them under the fridge. Apparently, of the three of them, only Robb had half a brain. “Rhaenys and I work at the library together,” he said easily. “Jon’s my cousin.”

Rhaenys screwed the lid on and began to shake, maybe a little more aggressively than was necessary. “Wynnie, Robb and Jon are from Winterfell. How far is that from White Harbor, like twenty minutes?”

“You know the North is a lot bigger than that,” Wynafryd said, but it was a sufficient distraction. While she and Robb reminisced about their hometowns, Rhaenys finished the margaritas with no further incident and no more help from Jon, and quickly doled them out. She really didn’t need another drink, but at the same time, she really did.

While she was following Jon to a seat and lifting the glass to her lips, Balerion chose that exact moment to make his reappearance. He’d retreated to her room for some peace and quiet as soon as it started to get a little busy, and she’d figured she wouldn’t see him again for at least a few more hours. But there he was, emerging from the hallway like there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

She expected him to go to Dany, who was the only person on the planet he actually liked other than Rhaenys and her mom (everyone else he just had varying levels of tolerance for), but instead, he made a beeline for…

“Hey!” Rhaenys gasped when Balerion latched onto Jon’s leg, his claws leaving faint white lines on his dark grey jeans. “No, Balerion, leave him alone please. Leave him alone, come to me, come here.”

Balerion ignored her. Jon looked at her, clearly uncertain, as just as she was about to scoop Balerion up and head back to her room, she realized he wasn’t hissing or snarling. He was mewing.

He wanted to be picked up. Rhaenys found that so bewildering that for a second, her brain completely shut down.

Balerion knew Jon, yeah, from those visitations when they were kids, but he’d always mostly ignored him, the same way he mostly ignored Aegon. And honestly, she didn’t really think he’d remember him all that well. It hadn’t even occurred to her, actually.

“Jon, sit down,” she said, putting her glass down and leaning over to scoop him up. She found she had to resist the urge to brush off the marks on his jeans, and straightened quickly before that part of her brain won out. “Hey, quickly, do you want to hold him? I think he wants you to hold him.”

“Okay?” Jon was perfectly still as she carefully deposited Balerion into his arms. “Like this?”

“Yeah, he’s not a baby, he’ll be fine.” And then, because she still wasn’t quite certain this wasn’t a fluke, added, “If he wants to get down, let him.”

Jon nodded. There was an expression on his face like he thought this might be a test and honestly, who knew? Balerion was smart. Maybe this was his way of looking out for her.

Wynafryd cooed, leaning over Robb to get a better look. “I thought your cat hated everyone,” she said to Rhaenys. “He doesn’t even let me pet him.”

Rhaenys, slipping into the seat Loras had abandoned, couldn’t do anything but shrug. She glanced at Balerion, but all he did was curl up contentedly in Jon’s lap and close his eyes. “He does,” she said. “My new roommate has lived here a week and he still acts like she doesn’t exist.” The other day, he’d actually _shoved_ Asha’s shin aside with his entire body weight when she accidentally stood in the way of his water bowl. Asha had only laughed, and said she hated him too.

“I forgot about your roommate,” Robb said. He took a sip of his drink and smiled. “Iron Islands?”

“Yep.” Rhaenys just held her glass in both hands. She wasn’t sure if she’d drink it now. Maybe she’d pawn it off on Arianne. “She’s out on the balcony with some other people. You’ll probably meet her—” She heard the door slide open and then Asha’s familiar laugh, but didn’t look over, her eyes sliding back to Jon and Balerion instead. “Right about now, actually.”

If she hadn’t been so focused on Jon and Balerion, she might have seen the slow dawn of recognition on Robb’s face, and then she same expression cross Asha’s. As it was, she didn’t even realize anything was amiss until she heard Robb’s voice say, “Asha.”

She looked up, first at Robb, then turning to Asha, who stood holding the fridge handle, but made no move to open it. Her dark eyes slid from Robb, to Jon, and lastly to Rhaenys, where she lingered the longest. There was a look on her face Rhaenys had never seen before. Finally, her eyes went back to Robb. She smiled, slow and sardonic.

“Long time no see,” she said in a calm, cool voice. “Where’s my brother?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to say I'm picking up steam but I also don't want to jinx myself. In the meantime, I made some fake Instagrams! You can find them on my secret Riverdale sideblog at archiejandrews.tumblr.com. If there's interest, I can also post little extras and background info too!


	5. Back to School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There has to be a limit to timely coincidences. Rhaenys is pretty sure she can't take much more of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me updating less than two weeks later? Who am I.
> 
> I've decided to dedicate every chapter from here on out to a loyal reader and reviewer, and ForceSmuggler, this is yours, in honor of your very thoughtful birthday question last week that made me realize my numbers were all off! To remedy that, I've updated things so that Aegon and Jon are now only five months apart. The new birthdays will hopefully come up at this progresses, but if you hadn't asked, I very well may have written myself into a corner, so thanks again!

_Saturday, August 29th  
_ _11:27 PM_

Rhaenys was going to throw up. Or cry. It depended, really.

Everything got kind of weird after that. Asha went back out to the balcony with an entire bottle of gin. Robb’s eyes followed her, an unreadable look on his face, and next to him Jon murmured something like “just let it go.” Aly and Wynafryd, sensing the discomfort, immediately jumped into damage control, asking about work and classes and extracurriculars. Rhaenys finished her margarita and resisted the urge to make another.

It was after eleven now, their apartment finally cleared out. Even Balerion was gone, having lost interest in the party after Jon and Dany left. That was her fault, though; Rhaenys had spent most of the last half hour of the party with her head in Loras’s lap, and as established, they weren’t each other’s biggest fans. She’d since returned to her seat at the counter, though, drinking water in a desperate attempt to sober up before she had to face the music.

“What’s up with Asha?” Arianne asked, coming into the kitchen with a glass in each hand. Behind her, Brienne carefully gripped the remnants of a painstakingly designed charcuterie board. “She hasn’t come inside once. Weren’t you talking to her?”

Rhaenys hugged herself, suddenly freezing in her tank top. “Did you know she had a brother?” she asked in a low voice, looking from one to the other and back again. “Please tell me you didn’t.” _This isn’t my fault. This isn’t my fault. This isn’t my fault._

Brienne shook her head, while Arianne said, “No. Is she okay?”

“I don’t know,” Rhaenys whispered. She had a headache. The apartment was way too bright. “Robb, he—he has this foster brother, Theon, and I think—"

The sliding door opened loudly, and Rhaenys turned around to see Asha stepping inside, her pace measured and expression cool. “Asha—”

“Save it.” Asha’s voice was just as calm as it had been earlier, and somehow, that was worse than rage. “You can’t actually expect me to believe you didn’t know. So what was your angle? I’d never give a Stark credit, but a blind man could see you didn’t fill _them_ in on your little plan.”

 _Don’t cry. Don’t throw up. Don’t cry. Don’t throw up._ “I didn’t know,” Rhaenys said, and even to her own ears her voice was weak, unconvincing. “I swear.”

Asha scoffed. “Give me a break. They’re inseparable, you can’t speak to one without the other two sniffing around somewhere. So what? You think I’ll believe you never put two and two together? You’re a smart girl, aren’t you? So just _tell me_ what you thought would happen.”

Before Rhaenys could respond, Arianne was speaking, her voice firm. “Don’t yell at her.”

“No one is yelling,” Asha said, and though she wasn’t, there was an edge creeping into her voice. She gestured at Arianne, never taking her eyes off Rhaenys. “Go on, tell her what you did.”

“I—” Rhaenys held her gaze, resisting the urge to look to Arianne or Brienne for help. This was her screw up. She had to face it like an adult. “Asha, can you please let me explain? Honestly, I—I barely know them, I promise. I swear.”

“Barely know them?” Asha laughed, the sound cold and humorless. “Do you think I’m stupid? Maybe I’m misremembering, who was it who described this as ‘inner circle only’? And unless my eyes deceive me, was that not your cat, the one who doesn’t get along with any of us, all snuggled up—”

“I _said_ stop yelling at her!” Arianne slammed the dishwasher closed. “She said she didn’t know, so she didn’t know! Leave it!”

“Arianne, if you’re not going to listen, you need to stay out of it,” Asha snarled, eyes flashing. “She’s not a child, she doesn’t need to be coddled, she’s fucking with my—"

“Stop!” Rhaenys shouted. Finally she looked over at her cousin, scowling at Asha, then at Brienne, silently watching. “Please, can you guys go—I don’t know, do something else? Please. This is between me and Asha.”

Arianne lifted her chin defiantly. “Rhaenys, I’m not going to let her rip your throat out—”

“Does anyone else smell that?” Three heads turned in Brienne’s direction to see her already hauling the half-empty bag out of the can. “I’m taking this out. Could someone grab the recycling?”

For a moment they were at a standoff; it was Arianne who folded. “Fine,” she sniffed. She flounced toward the bin, picked it up so aggressively the cans and bottles rattled noisily around, and followed Brienne out the door, but not before throwing a warning look at Asha over her shoulder, the kind that suggested murder.

Once the door was shut, Rhaenys turned back to Asha. Her expression had gone back to that unnerving calm, but there was tension in her shoulders. Really, she looked remarkably sober for someone who’d been drinking _and_ smoking. “Please let me explain,” she said. “Please.”

Asha’s voice was cold. “Shoot.”

No point in beating around the bush. Asha would only grow more furious in the meantime. “Jon’s my half-brother,” she said, careful to keep her voice neutral. “We’re not close. At all.”

Asha didn’t say anything right away, her eyes narrowing as she considered this. “Let me guess,” she said finally. “Dad cheat on your ma?”

Clearly Asha didn’t believe in beating around the bush either. Her bluntness was almost reassuring. “Yeah,” Rhaenys said, resisting the urge to start cracking her knuckles. “Um… Jon’s mom was one of my dad’s students while he was doing his PhD. Right here at KLU, actually.” She smiled weakly. “Go Knights, I guess.”

Something in Asha’s expression shifted. “And you still came here?”

“My mom went here too, and her mom before her. My uncle works— _worked_ at the library, and my other grandmother just lives across the bay.” She shrugged. “I don’t see why I should let my dad fuck all that up for me.” After a moment, she added, “I don’t know about Jon, though. Maybe I would have picked differently if I knew he’d make the same choice.”

There was an edge of suspicion in Asha’s voice when she said, “If you hate him so much, why was he here?”

“I don’t hate him,” Rhaenys said automatically, but it was still a question for the ages. “My brother, my full brother, Aegon… it was important to him. He’s only a few months older than Jon, but they’re like… best buds.” _Real brothers._ She popped a knuckle. “He was so little when it all came out, only four, so he didn’t care when my dad put this random kid in from of us and called him our brother. And honestly, we didn’t even know what really happened until—I think I was around twelve, I guess? Asked my older cousin and she didn’t lie. Easy as that.”

“You’re not answering my question.”

“Sorry. Um.” It took her a second to remember the question. “Robb started working at my job. And my brother was breathing down my neck about being nice and—it just happened, I guess.”

Asha’s silence seemed like it stretched on forever. “You really didn’t know.” It wasn’t a question.

“No. I promise.” Rhaenys cracked another knuckle. “All I knew about Theon was that he was from the Iron Islands and adopted.”

“He’s not adopted,” Asha snapped. “He’s a Greyjoy. Same as I am.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to—I’m sorry.” The look on Asha’s face was challenging, like she was daring Rhaenys to ask, but Rhaenys understood boundaries. Call it personal experience. “Ash, I just want you to know. I’d never do something like that. I know my thing isn’t the same but… in your shoes, I’d be furious. I wouldn’t do that to you.

Something flickered across Asha’s face, gone before Rhaenys could place it. “I’m going to bed,” she said briskly. “Tell your cousin I went easy on you.”

* * *

Classes started on Monday, a welcome distraction from the flaming garbage heap her life was steadily becoming.

If only she knew.

By the time Rhaenys was walking into her first class of the semester, she’d already been up for hours. Asha went for a three mile run pretty much every morning and Rhaenys, who could never stand even the _thought_ of someone being mad at her, had woken up at 6:15 AM to go with her. They hadn’t talked, obviously, but it was still nice to have her company, being able to get some fresh air in her lungs and watch the sun come up and just enjoy being alive.

Wynafryd was already there, laptop out and planner open; Alysanne, by no means a morning person, had elected to take this class later in the day. “Good morning,” she said as Rhaenys took the empty seat next to her. “What’s up?”

“Peaches and cream.” Rhaenys leaned over, trying to see what was on her laptop screen. “Is that the syllabus?”

“Emails. You haven’t looked at it yet?”

“Wyn, it’s a miracle I’m even alive. Do you know how hungover I was?”

Wynafryd let out a little huff of laughter. “Speaking of hangovers, how was the fallout?” she asked. “Your roommate seemed pretty mad. Is everything alright?”

Oh, right. She’d been witness to all of that. “She’s fine,” Rhaenys said mildly. “I just didn’t know they knew each other, is all. Just a misunderstanding.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep!”

“No hurt feelings? Nothing friendship ending? Everyone’s back on the same page?”

 _No. Absolutely not. Least of all me._ “What’s with the 20 Questions?” Rhaenys raised an eyebrow. “It’s not like you have a dog in this fight.”

“Well, actually…” Wynafryd smiled a little, folding her hands together on her desk. “That guy, Robb, he’s pretty cute, don’t you think?”

Rhaenys almost choked on her cold brew. “Excuse me?”

Come on, you have to agree,” Wynnie said, her eyes dancing. “Why else would you invite him?”

“Uh…” What was this, the third time someone had asked her this question? This was getting ridiculous. _At least she’s not much interested in Jon,_ she thought. “Because I’m a firm believer in the more the merrier?”

“Uh-huh,” Wynnie teased, that mischievous smile still playing at her lips. “Sure. You know what, forget I said anything. Just keep me updated.” She hummed. “One more question, though. Is he single?”

“Alright, I think that’s enough of this conversation,” Rhaenys said flatly, making Wynafryd laugh. Gods be good, their professor also chose that moment to make her entrance, and the noise in the classroom quieted into a dim chatter as they waited for class to officially begin. As Wynafryd went back to her emails and Rhaenys pulled her laptop out of her backpack, she realized—huh. She actually _didn’t_ know the answer.

She couldn’t ask him anyway. Unless she was smart about it, of course. Rhaenys wasn’t especially clever, but that was the exact sort of thing she had a talent for weaseling out of guys, and Robb wouldn’t be any the wiser—

_No! Bad!_

Rhaenys opened her laptop and pulled up the syllabus.

The remainder of class passed with little fanfare, and following it, she and Wynnie trekked over to their next class of the day, where Aly met them. The three of them had also managed to block their schedules in such a way that they were able to have lunch together at the student union, though that was likely to change as clubs and office hours and tutoring began to ramp up. After, they all went their separate ways. Wynnie was done with classes for the day and was off to table for the Club Fair on the lawn, while Aly headed off to web programming.

Rhaenys had one more class before she could go home, but it wasn’t for her major. She liked to take at least one chill class every semester (some semesters that worked out better than others), and this semester she’d decided to go with the history of television. She still needed one more arts credit to graduate, and though she’d done choir in high school, all seven hells would freeze over before she took anything in the music department here. Anyway, she’d heard from a friend that they got to dissect episodes of _The Office,_ and that was good enough for her.

Funny, given that what happened in that very class was exactly the sort of unfunny coincidence that only happened in sitcoms and soap operas, not real life.

Because while Rhaenys was scanning the sign-in pages for her name, another one, about midway down the first page, caught her eye. She frowned, because this literally could not be happening. Absolutely not. The odds had to be astronomical.

GREYJOY, THEON

What. The. Fuck.

She twisted in her seat, scanning the room, because this had to be some kind of joke. Her eyes were playing tricks on her. There were miraculously two Theon Greyjoys on campus. She’d take any explanation.

But no, there he was, up in the very last row; the classroom was big, but not so big that Rhaenys, despite being several rows down, couldn’t recognize him. He wasn’t even pretending to pay attention, instead looking down at his cell phone, a black and green can on the table before him. A Monster.

Yep. That was Asha’s brother alright.

The professor was talking. People were looking at her. Right. She was in class. She was holding up attendance. Quickly, she signed it and passed it off to the boy beside her, wondering if Theon would see her name too. Probably not. His name came before hers, after all.

 _Well, this doesn’t have to be a bad thing,_ she thought as class continued. It was only syllabus day, so she didn’t feel bad about zoning out. She’d apologize for her screw up, same as she had to Asha. She wouldn’t ask any questions, because whatever tension was there wasn’t any of her business, but still, it would probably go a long way with Jon and Robb.

Not that she cared, of course. It was just the polite thing to do.

Class finished a little early, and Rhaenys, sitting closer to the front, was able to slip out first. When Theon followed twenty seconds later, she was waiting for him. “Hey!”

Theon kept walking, only pausing to toss his empty Monster into a bin. Weird, considering how she’d literally been standing right in front of him. A little put off, but figuring it was a just a little end-of-the-day tunnel vison, she followed. “Hey,” she said a little louder. “Theon.”

At his name, Theon turned. “What.”

 _What? What?_ Wasn’t it obvious? Rhaenys smiled. “Nothing,” she said, now feeling a little more uneasy. Maybe she shouldn’t be doing this? But she’d already committed, so she had to follow through. “I mean, not a lot. Do you have a sec?”

Theon, who’d been regarding her with a look of impatience, now raised an eyebrow as recognition crossed his face. He really did look like Asha, she thought, and internally, she kicked herself for not putting two and two together earlier. All that was missing was that perma-smirk, though thinking back, she was sure even that he shared with his sister. “Hold on,” he said, like he’d caught onto the punchline of some joke. “Aren’t you Jon’s sister?”

Without meaning to, she bristled. _He’s just lashing out,_ she told herself. _You might too._ “That’s me,” she said evenly. “Hey, I just wanted to say—”

“I know what you’re going to say. And you can save it.” Theon held up a hand, and Rhaenys was reminded of Asha saying the same thing, making that same motion, just two nights ago. “I won’t be telling Jon, so don’t worry about it.”

That… was a hard left from what she expected him to say. Jon was hardly the most pertinent link connecting them at the moment, considering the fact that she lived with his sister and worked with his foster brother. “Okay,” she said slowly. “But—”

“I never saw you,” Theon said, like he was bestowing on her some gift. “And you know what, I’ll just get ahead of it now. Just in case you’re ever moved to speak to brother of yours, you never saw me either. How’s that sound? We on the same page?”

So they were really going to ignore the elephant in the room? Although, Rhaenys thought as she looked into those dark eyes that reminded her so much of Asha, narrowed in impatience, it didn’t seem like he was aware of any elephant. And if Robb hadn’t told him, _she_ certainly couldn’t. “Okay,” she said finally, figuring whatever it was, she might as well go with it.

“Glad we could come to an agreement,” he said, and there was a flicker of a smirk on his lips. Asha’s smirk. “I’ve got class.”

And then he was turning on his heel and striding toward the exit, just as a classroom door opened and students began to pour out.

Well.

Rhaenys was done for the day. What she had _planned_ to do was head for the bus stop, go home, and kill time until she had to pick Asha up from work. But it was only 3 o’clock, and Asha didn’t get off till five. So really, she didn’t have to go home just yet. She had time to make a stop.

The library was pretty slow when Rhaenys walked in about ten minutes later. Not as slow as it had been the past week, of course, but still, slow enough that no one was waiting at circulation when she entered, allowing her to make a beeline for it.

Gilly grinned at her as she approached. “Hi!” she said, standing to meet her. “How are you?”

“I’m good!” Rhaenys said. The only other person at the desk was a new hire she only vaguely recognized and was _definitely_ pretending not to do homework. “How’s your first day going? You like your classes?”

“Oh, Rhaenys, they’re wonderful,” Gilly said earnestly. “I’m taking a seminar with only nine other students on empires and famine, and my professor is truly brilliant. If you find yourself in need of a history class to graduate, I’ll be happy to give you her name.”

“I don’t think I will, but thanks for the recommendation.” Rhaenys leaned against the counter nonchalantly, crossing her fingers for luck. “But actually, I’m here on kind of a mission. Do you know if Robb is working today?”

“Oh, him?” Gilly nodded. “He’s back in the computer lab. Do you need him for something?”

She’d decided on the lie during the walk over. “He left his wallet at my place this weekend. Do you mind if I…?”

Gilly waved her off. “Oh, go ahead. Everyone’s in their offices or has a meeting, no one’ll bother you. And sorry again we couldn’t make it.”

“You’re fine, Gil!” Rhaenys said, already heading for the direction of the computer lab. “Next time!”

Just like the rest of the library, there wasn’t much going on in the lab. Less than a half dozen desktops were occupied, and there was a girl over at one of the printers, but that was about it. Robb was sitting at the desk by the entrance with a computer of its own, and looked up with a friendly, polite smile as she approached, a smile that only brightened when he recognized her.

“Hey, Rhaenys,” he said. He moved to get up. “Am I moving?”

“Hm? Oh, no, I’m not working today. Just—Gilly told me you were back here.” Okay, so clearly there were no hard feelings. For some reason, she hadn’t been expecting that, and it kind of threw her off. She pretended to look around a little, just to regain her bearings. “I can see you’re really holding down the fort here.”

“I’m trying.” Robb settled back in his seat while Rhaenys came around the desk. It felt weird to be standing over him, but there weren’t any other chairs nearby and honestly, it would probably be weirder if he stood to meet her. “So what’s up?”

Right. She was here on a mission. “I actually came to just. Check in.”

Robb lifted his eyebrows. “Check in?”

“Yeah, I know we didn’t leave on the best terms on Saturday so I just wanted to...” She hesitated, searching for the right words. “Make sure everything was good.”

“Oh.” Robb’s expression softened. “Yeah, we’re good. I know you didn’t mean to.”

“Good,” she said, and found that she meant it. “Hey, do you… you mind asking Jon for me too? Just to make sure.”

She half-expected him to say _Why don’t you ask him yourself?_ But Robb just nodded, smiling softly at her. “I’ll ask him,” he said. “But I can tell you now he’ll say the same thing.”

Rhaenys forced herself not to look away. His eyes never left her face, but still, she was suddenly acutely aware of just how cropped her favorite banana yellow tank top was. Unbidden, the memory of Wynafryd’s teasing smile and _Is he single?_ surfaced, and she immediately shoved that thought back into the depths where it belonged.

“Thanks,” she said after a moment. Now was time for the kicker. “And Theon? Is he good too?” On the walk over, she’d realized that not only had he not said anything about Asha, he hadn’t even mentioned her party, the one Robb had supposedly invited him to. Just another weird thing about it all. “I guess it’s a lucky thing he already had plans.”

Robb’s smile faded a little, his expression going guarded. “It was lucky,” he agreed, and Rhaenys noticed he wasn’t quite meeting her eyes anymore. “It definitely could have been worse.”

“Did he say anything?” she asked, keeping her voice light. “Whatever he said, tell him I really am sorry.”

Robb took a beat too long to answer, and that was when Rhaenys knew. “Just that he was glad he wasn’t there,” he said. “But I’ll tell him.”

He was lying. Robb was lying to her.

“Thanks,” she said again, hoping nothing showed on her face. She took a step back, hooking her thumbs through the straps of her backpack. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Wait, before you go,” Robb said, and he shifted a little, scooting his chair just a hair closer to her. “I just noticed—you and Patrek are friends, right?”

Patrek. She hadn’t even though about him, not since Friday. He was cute, yeah, and she was pretty sure he liked her. “We’re coworkers,” she decided on, and felt a smile. She didn’t try to crush it. “You know I only met him last week.”

“Right, yeah.” Robb almost seemed… nervous? He still had that easy smile, but his words weren’t coming off as sure as they usually did. “I just thought—he wasn’t at your party. And Gilly mentioned it to me, but she wasn’t there either, so I didn’t know if I could say something if I saw Pat—you know what?” He laughed quietly. “Forget I said anything.”

The metaphorical Wynafryd was sitting on her shoulder, _screaming_ at her and Rhaenys mentally flicked her off. “Patrek’s so cool I figured he’d already have plans,” she said, shrugging. “Ask him about his weekend for me if you see him.”

“Yeah, I just remembered.” Robb laughed at himself again. “He was at this huge party. It was all over his Instagram stories.”

She wondered if Theon was at that party. “Sounds like he had a better Saturday night than we did, then.”

Robb’s eyebrows furrowed slightly for a second, but when he realized she was only joking, he grinned. “Yeah, I guess he did.”

Funny to think that only a week ago, she was considering the best way to get him to quit. And now they were just… chumming around at work. Or he was at work. She was here, talking to him, by choice.

No. Except she wasn’t. She’d been on a mission. And now she had to figure out what to do with that information.

“I have to go,” she said, taking another step back. “I’ve gotta catch my bus.”

“Oh, yeah, you go.” Robb waved her away. “I’ll see you around though?”

She took a few more backwards steps before turning away. “See you around.”

* * *

Asha no longer needed that ride; she had fixed her car and would be driving herself home. Which was just as well, because it gave Rhaenys a little more time to think. Brienne was at the facility and Arianne in class, so she had the entire apartment to herself to do just that.

She had to tell her, that much was clear. She couldn’t keep this a secret, it was bound to come out at some point and Asha would probably never forgive her. If their positions were reversed, and Asha was keeping her proximity to Jon a secret, Rhaenys would be furious.

Well, actually maybe Rhaenys wouldn’t much care if Asha ignored Jon for 75 minutes twice a week from opposite ends of a classroom without telling her. Well, she’d be mad, but maybe not _that_ mad. But this was different. Clearly whatever was going on between Asha and Theon was less about the total _lack_ of a relationship and more about the _dissolving_ of one. There was stuff there Rhaenys couldn’t even begin to understand or relate to, even if she knew.

Yeah, this wasn’t her call to make. She didn’t owe Theon anything; that was on Robb and Jon. And if they didn’t do their part, well, that had nothing to do with her.

Asha got home at a little before five. “That piece of shit is officially safe—enough—to drive,” she announced as she walked in the door. “And all it cost me was three-quarters of my weekend.”

“Woohoo!” Rhaenys had been watching _House Hunters_ in the living room, but abandoned it to jump up and cheer her on. It was nice to see her in such a good mood, especially after this weekend. “And the crowd goes wild! Asha, Asha, Asha! Who did that?”

Asha raised her arms above her head. “I did!”

“When did you do it?”

“All weekend!”

“And whose car is never going to break down again because a wizard goddess fixed it so that it’ll last forever?”

“Hah, let’s not get carried away. It’s still a hunk of garbage.” Grinning, Asha headed into the kitchen while Rhaenys followed to take a seat at the counter. “God, I’m starving.”

“Wash your hands first!”

Asha wiggled her grease blackened fingers in Rhaenys’s face before turning on the water, making her laugh. _She really is in a good mood,_ Rhaenys thought, watching her ready some leftovers and throw them into the microwave. Maybe this could wait.

But the longer she sat on it the harder it would be to tell her. Better to just rip the bandaid off.

“Hey, Ash?” Rhaenys said, while Asha punched two minutes on the timer. “I’ve actually got something to tell you.”

“Really?” Asha turned around, leaning back against the opposite counter. “Shoot.”

“Um. It’s about your brother.”

Asha’s whole demeanor changed, and Rhaenys hoped she wasn’t making a mistake. “What about him.”

“Well.” She shifted, watching her carefully. “He’s in one of my classes. History of TV, it's for my gen ed.”

Asha’s eyes narrowed. “Did you talk to him?”

Okay, so maybe Asha knew her better than she thought. “I did,” Rhaenys admitted. “But—”

“Rhaenys.” Asha sounded exasperated. “You shouldn’t have talked to him.”

“No, I know, but listen, I was just going to apologize for this weekend. You know, just to clear the air.”

“Mmhm. And how’d that go for you?”

“Well, that’s the thing," Rhaenys said. "He didn’t mention you at all. I don’t think he knows you’re my roommate, I don’t think they told him. He didn’t even really recognize me at first.”

There was an almost imperceptible change in her expression; her eyebrows went up by a millimeter, the corners of her mouth turned down ever so slightly. “Of course,” Asha said, and there was bitterness in her voice. “The tale of his narrow escape would probably upset him too much. Can’t have that.”

“Well yeah, that’s what I thought. But Ash, did you hear me? He didn’t recognize me at first, and he’s met me before. It was like two years ago, sure, but you’d think with everything I’d kinda be on the forefront, right?”

Asha regarded her skeptically. “You’re hardly unforgettable.”

In response, Rhaenys tugged on the sliver lock of hair that grew in just behind her left ear and gave her an _are you sure about that?_ look. Asha just raised an eyebrow. “Fine, I’ll give you that,” Rhaenys said, figuring maybe she had a point, if a very mean one. “But that’s not even the weirdest part.” Asha raised her eyebrows as if to say _go on._ “Like I said, he didn’t say anything about you. But he didn’t say anything about Robb, either though, even though we work together now. No, the first thing he said to me was _I won’t tell Jon._ Why would I care if he told Jon?”

Asha looked at her like she had a few screws loose. “Because you’ve hated him ever since you found out his ma’s the student your dad knocked up?”

 _“Exactly!”_ Rhaenys clapped her hands together, not even bothering to get upset over her phrasing or correct her about the _hate_ part. “Asha, don’t you get it? If I told you my half-sister wanted us to come to her party, wouldn’t you assume some kind of change of heart was going on? At the very minimum, we’re in contact. So why would Theon think I wouldn’t want Jon to know we were in the same class if we’re supposed to be on decent terms?”

Understanding crossed Asha’s face. The microwave beeped, but she didn’t move. “Because he didn’t know.”

“Because he didn’t know! And more than that.” Rhaenys stabbed a finger in Asha’s direction. “Theon said if, not when, but _if_ I see Jon, then I better not tell him either. Isn’t that weird?”

“He doesn’t want them to know.” Asha’s expression turned shrewd. “They’re not talking to him, and he’s not talking to them.” She focused on Rhaenys, eyes intent. “What did Robb say when you told him to bring Theon?”

“He said they’d be there. And I actually went to talk to him today, after I saw Theon. He lied to me, Asha. He told me that he’d talked to Theon, and that he knew. He lied.”

“So they’re not on speaking terms. And he doesn’t want me to know.” Asha snapped her fingers. “D’you think it’s mutual?”

Rhaenys recalled the care in his voice when he said _foster brother,_ the smile on his face when she told him she had a roommate from the Islands too (if only they’d known), the confident way he’d said _We’ll be there._ But that wasn’t confidence, she knew now, because some part of him must have known it wouldn’t happen. It was hope. “No,” she said, and her stomach twisted as she realized that whatever was going on, it was _hurting_ Robb. “No, I don’t think it is.”

There was an intensity in Asha’s dark eyes, one Rhaenys wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen in anyone before, and it kind of freaked her out. She was reminded, once again, that she was out of her depth, that she had no idea what was going on between these four people. Maybe her only mistake was not immediately dropping the class.

“You look alike,” she blurted out, just to have something to say that didn’t suddenly feel like an active betrayal. “You and Theon.”

That did it. Asha’s eyes refocused on her, and after a moment, she raised an eyebrow. “You think?” she asked, sounding neither flattered nor insulted.

“Yeah,” Rhaenys said, taking in the strong, angular features of Asha’s narrow face—some of them more prominent than others. She smiled sweetly. “His nose is more… _proportional,_ though.”

Asha threw back her head and cackled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you for reading! (and as always, let me know if you see any typos or discrepancies)


	6. Goalposts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talks, talks, more talks, and football.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, an American, going to bed on January 5th: "Yeah, I'll probably finish that chapter tomorrow."  
> January 6th: 🥴
> 
> But white supremacists storming Capitol Hill emboldened and encouraged by the president is not the point! The point is Beesreadbooks, who has left me so many sweet comments and to whom this chapter is dedicated to. Thank you!

_Friday, September 4th  
6:17 PM_

“When was the last time someone checked the mail?” Rhaenys called as she let herself into her apartment that Friday afternoon, just coming off a shift at work. Their mailbox had been so stuffed that Alayaya, their landlord’s daughter who manned the front desk sometimes, had stopped Rhaenys on her way in to tell her that the mail person had complained. “I thought we agreed—”

“Shh!” Asha hissed, not even looking in her direction. She was sharing the couch with Brienne, while Arianne lounged languidly on the loveseat, all three of them watching the TV with expressions of morbid fascination. Dropping her bounty off at the counter, she followed their slack-jawed gazes to see what was so interesting—and immediately cringed and looked away the moment she recognized Dr. Pimple Popper. Arianne was obsessed.

“Hi, Rhaenys,” Brienne said absently. Arianne ignored her altogether.

“Oh, come on,” Rhaenys complained, shielding her eyes. “This show is disgusting, do we really have to watch this?”

No answer. Sighing loudly—Asha shushed her again—Rhaenys yanked out a seat at the counter, sitting so that the TV was out of her eyeline. Even Balerion, high up in his tower, was watching. “I’ll just be here, then,” she announced. “Sorting through all this _junk_ like the loving, responsible roommate I am.” Most of the mail was split pretty evenly between Arianne and Asha—Arianne had a frankly unreasonable amount of magazine subscriptions, and apparently Asha had moved out of her old place without taking her mail with her, probably as a _fuck you_ to her old landlord. She and Brienne had some stuff too, mostly junk, but there was an envelope, about the size of a greeting card, addressed to Rhaenys in her mom’s swoopy, elegant handwriting. She frowned a little.

Letters from her mom weren’t super unusual; she probably got three or four a year, for her birthday or just because. But that was always in addition to regular, modern communication like through texts and phone calls, and Rhaenys… well, she really hadn’t been talking to her mom much lately. Lying stressed her out, even lies of omission, and while she knew she had to tell her mom that she was working at the library sooner or later, later just seemed better. Definitely better.

She turned it over and ripped it open, ignoring the sudden wordless exclamations of disgust and astonishment to her right. The card was bright yellow with a happy, smiling sun and _Thinking of You_ written across it. She opened it, shoving down that guilt thing she’d been feeling a lot lately. A Trader Garth’s gift card fell out, the hippie-crunchy-kinda-pricy grocery chain Loras’s family owned and Rhaenys loved, but she set it aside. The letter was pretty standard fare, _I love you_ and _I miss you_ and _I’m proud of you,_ and that guilt feeling grew until it was a hard knot in her stomach and she was pretty sure she was going to cry.

Well. Later had finally arrived, it seemed. Or else she was going to be the worst daughter on the planet.

Her roommates were still chattering over whatever horror had just happened (Asha sounded impressed, Brienne disgusted, and Arianne somewhere between the two), but Rhaenys tuned them out, getting up and quickly splitting down the hall to where she and Brienne had their rooms. Flopping back on her bed, she dialed her mom.

It took three rings for her to pick up. “Hi, sweetheart!” she said. “How are you? It’s so good to hear your voice.”

“I’m good.” Flat on her back, Rhaenys could see the bright, clear blue sky outside her window. Her mom was under that same sky, hundreds and hundreds of miles away. “I got your letter.”

“Oh, you did?” She sounded delighted. “I was starting to worry about the mail—never mind that. Did you like it? That’s where you get that pizza you like, isn’t it? The ugly one?”

The startled a laugh out of her, which in turn made tears spring to her eyes. “Yeah, the ugly one,” she said, preemptively wiping her eyes. They didn’t have a Trader Garth’s in Sunspear, so Rhaenys had lovingly driven three frozen tomato pesto pizzas down from King’s Landing when she’d come home from winter break two years ago. Her mom had thanked her, and then immediately said it was the ugliest pizza she had ever seen, and maybe that was why the store had never gotten a foothold in Dorne. “Thank you. But you didn’t have to send me anything.”

“Rhae, I wanted to,” her mom said. “You worked so hard at your internship this summer, I thought you deserved a treat for your first week of school. If only you’d gotten it earlier, but—”

“No, Mom, that’s not what I mean.” Rhaenys rolled onto her side, wondering if she could just kind of… dance around it. “I don’t need money. We already agreed that I should cover my own groceries and junk, so I just don’t think we need to like, renege on that, okay? I’ve got it.”

“Rhaenys, sweetheart.” Her mom’s voice was reassuring—she wasn’t _getting_ it. “I’m your mom, I’m supposed to take care of you. Forget about all of that before, you’re already so responsible and hardworking, you don’t need to find new job just to prove it. It’s your last year, I just want you to focus on school right now, so you have the most kickass job waiting for you when you graduate. Deal?”

Gods above, since when did Elia Martell say _kickass?_ She was spending too much time with Aegon. Rhaenys shook her head. _Focus._ “Mommy, I have something to tell you,” she said, trying to make it sound like good news and not like she’d been a lying liar for the past month, since she got that email telling her when she could return. “They took me back at the library.”

“…oh?” For several seconds, her mother was silent. Then, “Baby, if you thought we couldn’t, or _wouldn’t_ take care of you, I’m so sorry—”

“No, Mom, it’s not—it’s my fault.” Rhaenys chewed on her lip. “I just wanted to see if I could do it before I told anyone.”

“Before—Rhaenys, you haven’t talked to anyone?”

It sounded… _worse_ when she said it like that. Rhaenys pulled herself up, closing her eyes and massaging her temple. “Not really,” she said. “Aegon knows now, since—” She cut herself off abruptly. _Since he and Jon tell each other everything,_ she was going to say, but that really wasn’t necessary. She wasn’t getting into that. “Um, I just let it slip. It’s really not a big deal, Mommy, I just finished my second week and I’ve been fine. So please don’t worry about me, okay?”

There was that silence again. Rhaenys waited, uncertain of how to interpret it. When her mom finally spoke, her voice was gentle. “Rhaenys, sweetheart,” she said. “I know that you are _so_ strong, believe me, I know. But it’s _okay_ to still be affected by things. Grief doesn’t have an expiration date.”

Her fingers tightened around the phone. “You don’t think I can handle it?”

“Rhaenys, of course you can handle it,” her mom said, reassuring. “You know how much I believe in you, always. I’m sorry. Don’t think I’m doubting you.”

Rhaenys exhaled. “No, I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re right. I—I didn’t want to talk about it because I didn’t know if I could. So I was just going to… keep it all to myself. But I really am fine. So please, please don’t worry, okay?”

“Okay,” her mom said, and Rhaenys lifted her head. She’d been expecting the bog standard _I’m your mom and I’m always going to worry about you,_ but she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. “So two weeks, you said? Sounds like I’m two weeks behind on that front. You want to fill your mom in?”

Rhaenys fell back against her pillows. Telling her about Robb and Jon and all of that crossed her mind for a split second, but as quickly as it did, she dismissed it. She was only being nice as a favor to Aegon anyway; it was unlikely to persist, so there was no point in getting into it. It wasn’t like her mom knew of every single one of her coworkers. “Yeah,” she said. “I mean, it’s really not much, you know? Work is work. But they put up this plaque for Uncle Aemon, and it’s still brand new and shiny—"

Someone shrieked out in the living room, cutting her off. It sounded like it might have been Arianne, but whoever it had been was immediately drowned out by more shouting. Rhaenys rolled her eyes.

“What’s that?” Her mom sounded concerned. “Is everyone okay?”

“They’re just being dramatic,” Rhaenys replied. Pulling the phone away from her ear, she sat up and shouted, “I’m _on_ the _phone!_ Shut up!”

When she got back on, her mom said, “Don’t tell your friends to shut up.”

“Sometimes they deserve it.”

Her mom laughed. “You should still be nice. How are they?”

Rhaenys hummed as Balerion pushed her door open, finally tired of those menaces out in the living room. She reached down to pull him up, glad for the change of subject. “Well, they’re… them.”

* * *

Rhaenys had just gotten off the phone (her mom had called Aegon and Arthur to talk to her too) when Brienne appeared in her doorway, rapping her knuckles against the frame. “Hey,” she said. “I’m about to leave.”

“Huh?” She was curled on her side, scrolling through Twitter, Balerion asleep at her back, “You’re leaving?”

“Game.” Brienne adjusted her backpack. “We’re supposed to be back at the facility by 7:30. Renly’s downstairs.”

“Oh, right.” Rhaenys remembered enjoying those weekends to herself back during freshman year, but that was only because they’d shared a room. “I don’t get why you guys have to stay in hotels for home games too. Doesn’t the home field advantage extend to being able to sleep in your own bed too?”

“It’s supposed to eliminate distractions,” Brienne said, shrugging. “You know freshmen.”

“But you’re so responsible. I’m sure if you asked they would make an exception for you. Just tell them you’ve got the best roommates on the planet and that we’d never—”

“Asha!” Arianne’s sharp, exasperated voice cut through the apartment. “Just tell me what you want on your pizza and stop riddling me!”

Brienne exhaled, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. “You were saying?”

Rhaenys sat up. “You can’t leave me alone with them.”

“Come on.” Brienne crossed the room and offered her a hand. “You can ride over with us. Renly can bring you back.”

A fifteen minute reprieve was certainly better than nothing. Rhaenys grabbed her hand and let her haul her off the bed, following her out into the main room, where Asha and Arianne were still hanging out, the evening news on TV. Arianne looked up from her laptop. “Good luck tomorrow, Brienne,” she said sweetly, as if she hadn’t just been whining at Asha. “You’ll kill it.”

“Yep.” Asha stabbed a finger in her direction. “It’s my first football game, so don’t screw it up by losing. We got a deal?”

“Deal,” Brienne said, grinning as she pulled on her shoes—new shoes, Rhaenys noticed, gorgeous pale blue and white ones with deep rose pink accents. “Thanks, guys. See you tomorrow.”

“Good night,” Arianne sang. “Rhaenys, you’re going with her?” When Rhaenys nodded, she added, “Tell Renly we’re having pizza, he can join if he wants.”

“I want pineapples on my half,” Rhaenys told her. “And then surprise me.”

Arianne made a face. “You can share with Miss Capers and Anchovies, then,” she said, jerking a thumb at Asha. “Renly can eat whatever I do.”

“Speaking of Renly, he’s impatient,” Brienne said, opening the door. “Come on, Rhaenys. Bye, guys.”

Arianne blew her a kiss while Asha waved a hand vaguely in their direction. Rhaenys pulled the door shut and skipped to catch up Brienne, who’d already started down the hall. “Hey, those shoes are gorgeous by the way,” she said. “You think I could borrow them sometime? I’ll be your best friend.”

Brienne glanced over her shoulder. “You’re already my best friend,” she said. “They won’t fit you anyway.”

“I can wear extra socks!” Rhaenys scooted in front of her to punch the elevator button. “Free?”

“Yeah, we got a whole shipment from Nike.” She lifted a foot, showing Rhaenys the tread on the bottom, the same deep dark pink. Rhaenys cooed admiringly. “These had my name on them.”

“Best sponsor ever.” They must’ve been custom; women’s shoes didn’t come in Brienne’s size, and while Rhaenys was of the mind that clothes and shoes weren’t gendered, no one could deny those were decidedly feminine. The elevator doors dinged open and they stepped inside. “Once you’re drafted, you’re going to have everyone knocking your door down to get you a shoe deal.”

Brienne glanced sideways. “That’s basketball players who get the shoe deals. Not football.”

“Still, breaking barriers? Sounds like a killer ad campaign to me, and I bet Arianne would agree.”

“I don’t want to jinx anything,” Brienne said. “That’s still a long time away.”

Seven months was hardly a long time, but Rhaenys shrugged. “Remind me again who we’re playing?” she asked.

“Duskendale,” Brienne replied. “Could go either way.”

Despite having a football legend as a best friend (arguably two, if she counted Loras) Rhaenys had absorbed very little over the past three years. She recognized the school, though, so that… probably wasn’t a good thing, honestly. “Well, like I said, home field advantage,” she said, patting her heartily on the back as the elevator doors slid open to reveal the lobby.

Outside, an enormous, blacked out Range Rover was idling by the curb, and Rhaenys skipped out ahead of Brienne. “You’re in a red zone!” she said as she pulled open the back door and climbed inside, quickly sliding across the seat so Brienne could follow. “Imagine if some dummy burned down my building making microwave mac and cheese? This behemoth would block the firetrucks.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Renly said, briefly glancing over his shoulder before pulling away from the curb, his mirrored sunglasses catching the sunset. Renly had been Rhaenys, Loras, and Brienne’s RA their freshman year, and their dorm building had been evacuated at least half a dozen times for that exact reason (though sometimes it was popcorn). “I’m going to be having nightmares for the rest of my life.” Rhaenys laughed.

“He’s not kidding,” Loras said from the passenger seat. “Did I tell you he made me change my alarm because it was ‘taking him back’? Tell him that’s ridiculous.”

“Call it PTSD. Worst year of my life, hands down.”

Brienne glanced up from her phone—Rhaenys hadn’t even noticed her take it out. “At least something good came from that year, right?” At the end of that semester, Loras made up some bullshit story about not getting along with his roommate so he could switch into another dorm. Then, on the third day back from winter break, he asked Renly out to a movie and the rest, as they say, was history.

Renly glanced sideways. “He’s fine, I guess.”

“Dick.” Loras knocked his arm, but Rhaenys could see his smile. He looked over his shoulder at them. “Brienne, we’re gonna kick their asses, right?”

“Right.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t count if you don’t say it.”

Brienne glanced at Rhaenys, who nodded sagely. “We’re gonna kick their asses,” she said good-naturedly. Loras whooped.

A few minutes later, Renly was turning into the parking lot of the football facility, the university charter buses already idling there. “Delivered in one piece,” he said, putting his car in park. “Now get out of here.”

“Love you too,” Loras laughed, leaning over. “Kiss for luck?”

He had the right idea. While the lovebirds said their goodbyes, Rhaenys reached for Brienne, wrapping her arms around her neck and smacking a kiss on her cheek. “Good luck,” she sang. “Next time I see you, you’ll be a winner.”

“We’re already winners,” Loras said, popping his door open. “Brienne, let’s go. Bye, Rhaenys.”

“Thanks for the ride, Renly,” Brienne said, opening her door too and hopping out. “Bye!”

Rhaenys watched them cross the parking lot. From the opposite direction, a trio was heading toward the facility from the shuttle stop, and Loras grabbed the shortest of them in a headlock. Rhaenys would bet anything that was Podrick Payne.

“Am I your Uber driver, or are you gonna come up front?” He looked over his shoulder at her, raising his eyebrows. “Answer wrong and you’re walking home.”

Laughing, Rhaenys shoved open her door and rounded to the front of the car. “If you don’t have dinner plans, come over to our place,” she said as she climbed back in and he immediately put the car back into drive. “Arianne’s ordering pizza.”

“Hm.” Renly tapped idly on the steering wheel, waiting for an opening back onto the main road. As they waited, a Tesla in deep rich red drove past them and turned into the parking lot. “I did have a date with Viola Davis but… I suppose we could reschedule.”

Rhaenys hadn’t really _meant_ to look over her shoulder; Loras had left his seatbelt in a tangle so she had to look back to get it free, and as she did she saw Brienne waving—not to them, but at the Tesla. She recalled, then, the mystery of who had taken her home exactly one week ago today, the one that never got solved because so much other shit immediately began to pile on. “Hey, do you know whose car that is?”

Renly was already pulling out into the road. “What car?”

“The one that just drove past us. The Tesla.” Rhaenys twisted around in her seat, but it was too late. The car had disappeared around the side of the building to the parking lot, and Brienne, Loras, and the three others had gone inside. “Never mind.” What kind of nut got all worked up over a wave, anyway? It wasn’t a big deal. “So you’re coming, right?”

Renly looked over at her, grinning. “No one can say no to Arianne.”

An hour later, Rhaenys was curled up on the couch with Arianne, passing a pint of extra dark chocolate ice cream back and forth. Out on the balcony, Asha and Renly were passing a blunt back and forth. They’d found _Jurassic Park_ while channel surfing, a movie Rhaenys had seen about a hundred thousand times because Dany used to be obsessed, ever since Viserys put it on during a thunderstorm to scare them.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Rhaenys said, clicking her spoon against her teeth. “My mom sends her love. And she sent us fancy grocery money.”

“I love your mom,” Arianne sighed. She passed the ice cream over. “You talked to her?”

“Yep.” After a moment, Rhaenys added, “I finally told her I’m at work.”

“Good for you,” and Rhaenys could tell by her smile Arianne was genuine. “Did you tell her… everything?”

Rhaenys knew what she was getting at. “I told her what was relevant, yeah.”

A faint, skeptical line appeared between Arianne’s perfect eyebrows. “You don’t think talking to Jon is relevant?”

“No.” Rhaenys turned back to the TV, watching the T-Rex bear down on the kids. When they first saw this movie, this was the point that finally made Aegon leave the room to whine to their moms, Viserys going after him to do damage control. Dany had remained glued to the floor, transfixed, while Rhaenys simply refused to let a six-year-old outlast her. “It was just a one time thing, Arianne. Nothing’s changing.”

Arianne paused, considering that, but evidently decided not to comment. “And what of Robb?” she asked instead, shaking her head when Rhaenys offered her the ice cream.

“Do your parents know the names of every single one of your coworkers?”

“…that’s fair.”

“Thank you.” Rhaenys stretched her legs out, pressing her toes against the coffee table. “It’s really not a big deal, anyway.”

“No, I know,” Arianne said. She reached over to rub Rhaenys’s shoulder. “Just keep me updated.”

Rhaenys smiled at her. Out on the balcony, Asha whooped as the lawyer was eaten.

* * *

There was nothing quite like campus in the hours before a game.

Usually when Rhaenys looked around, she saw green lawns and buildings of pale red stone and depending on the time of day, some crowds. Today, however, it was royal blue and gold as far as the eye could see, school spirit galore. Football was big in King’s Landing, so the locals had come out to partake in the festivities too. There was music, laughing, and grilling, blue and gold tents set up every ten feet on the lawns to keep the sun at bay. Tailgates were just about the closest thing to a campus wide party she could think of.

Rhaenys loved them.

They were kicking it back with Arianne’s sorority; they pretty much had an open invitation policy, especially if guests brought refreshments. Rhaenys had been tailgating with them for three years now, ever since she was a mostly friendless freshman, the other girls taking her under their wing as a favor to Arianne and Tyene who, being on the cheer team, were never around for tailgates.

(Tyene was in pharmacy school now, out in Oldtown with Sarella. She’d sent a picture to their cousins group chat with her face pressed close to Sarella’s, and then a couple more pictures of their beautiful lunches and beautiful cocktails in the beautiful new bar they were having lunch at. A few minutes later, Sarella had texted Rhaenys directly; _Save me!_ )

Rhaenys had taken over the grill—her meat cooking phobia didn’t extend to anything it was socially acceptable to blacken a little, and besides, grilling was fun. In her _Tarth 7_ jersey, fanny pack, and new sneakers, she felt like a sitcom dad, doling out hot dogs and bean burgers for the vegetarians. Wynafryd and Myranda Royce were with her, only ostensibly helping while talking about a show that Rhaenys had never even heard of, and Aly had disappeared altogether, gone to the tents of the neighboring frat, the one Renly was in.

She was poking at a hot dog and swigging a White Claw (not her favorite, but it would do) when Arianne waltzed up and said, “You’re going to burn those.”

Rhaenys frowned. “No, I’m not.”

Arianne was wearing huge, dramatic sunglasses that covered half her face, but Rhaenys could just about sense the doubtful look she was giving her. “Whatever,” she said, shrugging. “Walk with me? I wanted to look around.”

“Uh.” Rhaenys looked up to see Wynafryd already waving her away, Myranda looking on in vague amusement, her default expression. “Sure. Where’s Asha?”

Arianne pointed vaguely over Rhaenys’s shoulder, and she turned. In the sea of blue and gold, Asha stuck out like a sore thumb in her black tank top and cargo pants, because she’d staunchly refused any of the more spirited attire Rhaenys had offered to loan her. She was hanging out with Renly and his friends; as it turned out, they got along like a house on fire, and he’d whisked her away a good while ago. Far as Rhaenys could tell, she was kicking frat boy ass in darts. Good for her.

“Okay, just us,” Rhaenys said, and handed the tongs over to Wynafryd. “Those are burned. Give them to the guys, they won’t care. We’ll be back!”

As they headed out from the shade of the tent and began walking down the path, weaving through the crowd, Rhaenys hooked her arm through Arianne’s. “Excited to be in the stands with the rest of us plebeians?” Rhaenys asked, skipping a little. “It’ll be a first for you, won’t it?”

“Slow down,” Arianne complained; Rhaenys was half a foot taller and had a naturally swift stride. She obliged. “It’ll be different. But I’m sure I’ll have fun.”

“Oh, it will be! You’ll love it, I promise. You won’t miss being on the field one bit—” Rhaenys cut herself off when her cousin suddenly pulled her closer. “What?”

“I’ll tell you a secret,” Arianne said placidly. “I hate grad school.”

Rhaenys… was not expecting that. She looked over at her, feeling her smile drop slightly. “Really?”

“No,” Arianne admitted, looking forward again. Her voice was light, casual. “It’s so different, though. I’m at work when I used to be in class, I’m in class when I used to have cheer, I can’t go to chapter meetings because I’m a graduate sister, and everyone _always_ wants me to do _something._ It’s been one week, and I’m already so tired.”

Rhaenys stopped walking, nearly making Arianne trip. “Why didn’t you say anything?” she asked, trying to see behind those dark, dark sunglasses. She hadn’t noticed anything amiss, but she’d only been living with her for three weeks now. Was coming home and parking herself on the couch with a glass of wine for at least an hour not normal behavior for her?

“I usually complain to Tyene.” Arianne shrugged. “She has it worse, being at a new school on top of it.”

“Yeah, but she has Sarella.”

“And I have you.” Arianne pinched her lightly; she wasn’t often sentimental, so of course she had to temper it, but still, it made Rhaenys’s heart jump. They hadn’t been the best of friends growing up; Rhaenys was already twelve when her mom got a new job and moved them to Sunspear, no longer the adorable novelty Arianne and Tyene saw on holidays and summer breaks, but now solidly with Sarella in nuisance territory. At that age, the year separating them may as well have been a chasm—one that shrunk as they got older, sure, but never closed completely. Such was the reality of little sisters and brothers and cousins and all of that. Little was always little.

“Anyway,” Arianne went on, starting to walk again and dragging Rhaenys with her. “Teaching you and Asha the cheers will be almost as good as being on the field. Believe me.”

“Hey!” Rhaenys said, affecting dismay. “Are you insulting us?”

“It’s only an insult if I’m right.” Arianne grinned up at her. “So prove me wrong.”

“Hmph.” She remembered something else. “And what about Arys? How’s he?” Arianne’s boyfriend had graduated too, but while she’d remained in King’s Landing for work and later business school, he’d gone down to Dorne as a newly drafted member of the NFL.

“Yeah, him.” Arianne’s voice had gone flat; wrong question, evidently. “We’re kind of fighting right now. It’s stupid.”

Was this how her mom felt when Rhaenys told her about things way after the fact? If so, it was almost infuriating, and she was going to need to find some way to make it up to her. “It’s not stupid if it’s bothering you,” she said. “What’s up?”

“Like I said, it’s dumb. The season starts next week and he thinks I should fly up to see the first game of his career.” Her head turned to follow an adorable little kid in an adorable tiny KLU jersey, and she smiled after him, though her tone never changed. “And by the way, the game is in the North and on a Friday. He wasn’t happy when I said it wasn’t going to happen. He thinks I could make it work if I really wanted to.”

“He said that?” Arys, who opened car doors for Arianne and called her the smartest woman in the world? It seemed so… petulant, for him.

“Not in those words, but…” Arianne trailed off, then shook her head. Her voice was brighter when she spoke again. “Such are just the perils of long distance. It’s not stupid, and I should talk to him.”

Rhaenys didn’t have advice, because she had no idea how to handle this. So she just tugged Arianne closer. “You know I love you, right?”

Arianne bumped her cheek against Rhaenys’s shoulder. “I know.”

Somehow, they’d made their way to the admissions office, Arianne’s little white BMW one of the only cars in the small lot. “Huh,” Rhaenys said, vaguely surprised. “Your subconscious must’ve brought us here.”

“…must’ve.” Arianne kept walking, even though there was nothing to do here; it was a Saturday, so the office wasn’t even open. They'd only parked here because Arianne had a staff parking pass. “Hey, could I get my keys?”

Arianne hadn’t brought a bag or adequate pockets, so she’d stuffed her keys in Rhaenys’s ugly, practical fanny pack for safekeeping. She frowned. “Why?”

Arianne didn’t answer and Rhaenys studied her for a moment. Then, “You left the tickets in the glove box, didn’t you?”

* * *

Four hours later, her throat hurt from screaming.

Arianne, in all her former cheerleader glory and expertise, had led their slice of the student section with gusto in cheers and chants and even coordinated a little dance. Asha had made a surprising, valiant effort, and had gotten far more into the game than anyone had expected, picking it up impressively quickly. Rhaenys, for her part, had screamed. A lot.

She screamed when Brienne made a tackle. She screamed when Brienne caught the ball. She screamed when Brienne passed the ball. She screamed when Brienne’s face appeared on the massive screen overlooking the stadium, telling everyone where she was from and what her favorite food was and when she was going to graduate.

She screamed for Loras too, of course, as he called plays and passed the ball and facilitated touchdown after touchdown. Though no one could see it from the stands, she knew he had a small flower painted in gold enamel on the back of his helmet, right at the nape of his neck. An eagle-eyed reporter for the school newspaper had pointed it out back when he was a rookie freshman, and thus, the Knight of the Flowers was born.

Halftime was only a small reprieve from all the excitement, because it was exciting in its own right. The marching band was entertaining, the cheerleaders fantastic (“Look at Margaery!” Arianne had shouted, pointing to the blue and gold figure at the top of the pyramid, waving to the stands. “Isn’t she gorgeous? I taught her everything she knows.”). Then it was back to screaming.

With Brienne in charge of defense and Loras leading offense, Duskendale never stood a chance. Defeat was inevitable.

“You won!” Rhaenys shrieked when she saw Brienne finally coming up the steps into the student section, Loras a few paces behind. Next to her, Asha grimaced, coving her ear with a hand. “I love you!”

Brienne, her face flushed and smile wide, waved as she made her way over. They always gave the players some time after the games to commiserate with friends and family and get pictures with adoring fans. Rhaenys was pretty sure it was an ego boost for all parties involved.

“You guys were insane!” She said, pressing close to her side and wrapping an arm around her waist. On Brienne’s opposite side, Arianne latched onto her arm. “How do you feel?”

“Tired,” Brienne laughed, her eyes bright. “I need a shower.”

Asha slapped her shoulder. “I knew you were a winner.”

There were congratulations, many a picture. It was the men who dragged Loras away, many of them in the 30s or 40s, telling him he reminded them of their youth while they threw familiar arms around their shoulders.

Those guys usually ignored Brienne, like she wasn’t even there; they were just liberal enough to accept the first openly gay player in KLU’s history (surely it helped that he was handsome and strong and charismatic), but a woman? That was taking things a little too far. Sometimes Loras threw an apologetic look over his shoulder, not that it was needed, because she was a little celebrity in her own right. Wynafryd pounced on her first, snapping a selfie to send to her sister, and then Arianne’s sorority insisted on getting a group shot with her front and center, as Myranda Royce, director of social media and outreach, announced that it would be going on their chapter Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Not that there wasn’t overlap between their fans, mostly their fellow students and of course, the kids, boys and girls alike, little ones dragging their parents by hand while the older ones just shouted “Mom, Dad, come on!” after making a break for it.

She liked watching Brienne during this post-game fan flurry. Even after three years, she was still a little awkward, particularly when dealing with anyone closer to their own age, but with little kids? She just about lit up, and Rhaenys found it so sweet that sometimes it overwhelmed her, nearly to the point of tears.

The girls, the younger ones, almost always had something to say. One girl, probably around Dorea’s age with purple bands on her braces, proudly told Brienne that she had just made her middle school football team. Another, who couldn’t have been older than seven, came clutching a Barbie doll in a football uniform, holding it out and saying, “She’s you.” The Barbie, obviously well-loved, had long blond hair underneath her helmet and her uniform was pink and black, and Brienne had handled it with such care it could have been a priceless heirloom.

Arianne was long gone, chatting with the cheerleaders in the section over, but Asha was right there with her, at one point grabbing Rhaenys’s elbow and saying in her ear, “You didn’t tell me she was a _role model.”_

Rhaenys had just nodded sagely. “You know, Brienne said the same thing to me, once,” she’d said, as they watched Brienne carefully let a boy try on her helmet before smiling for the camera. “Guess it comes with being the first.”

Brienne had just finished signing baseball caps for a trio of siblings when a piercing whistle split the air, a hundred heads turning to look down at the field. Rhaenys recognized Jaime Lannister, his gold hair a beacon beneath the stadium lights, wearing a white windbreaker so light it was nearly transparent and his famed myoelectric hand raised high. He was looking right in their direction, and the only word that came to mind to describe his expression was _smug._

Okay, maybe that was just her bias speaking.

“Debrief!” Loras shouted, reappearing suddenly and waving to some of the guys standing a little ways away. He lowered his voice, his next comment meant just for those nearby. “Ready to go get yelled at? Because even when we win, we lose.”

Some of the guys laughed, but Brienne just looked exasperated. “Loras,” she said. “Come on. That’s not good for morale.”

“Well, I don’t think a lecture on what we could have done better after a decisive victory is good for morale either, do you?”

“23 to 31 isn’t decisive.” She raised a pale eyebrow. “I thought you were competitive.”

Loras just clapped her shoulder. “You’re worse than Lannister,” he said, but there was no bite in his voice, just a laugh. Rhaenys made a face at the comparison. “Fine, let’s go. Before he really rips us a new one.”

Shaking her head, Brienne turned back to Rhaenys and Asha. “Half an hour,” she said, already following Loras down. “Then we can find something to eat. I’m starving.”

“It’s your day!” Rhaenys called after her. “You decide!”

Brienne just waved over her shoulder. “She’s terrible,” Rhaenys complained to Asha. “Always _what do you want to eat, I don’t care, I’ll eat whatever you want to._ Take a stance, you know? She’s the one who was running up and down a field for the past three hours.”

“Uh-huh.” Asha had her arms crossed over her chest, her thinking pose, and was looking down at the field. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers. “Lannister. He's that guy who lost his hand in some freak accident, isn't he?”

 _Absolutely tactless._ Regardless, Rhaenys nodded. “Mugging,” she said, watching Lannister disappear down the tunnel that led to the locker rooms after the rest of the stragglers—one of whom was Brienne, looking over her shoulder at him.

_Huh._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time I start a new chapter, I say to myself "This is the one that's finally going to dip below 5000 words" and every time I finish a new chapter, it is not. Sometimes it's even more. I try to edit it down, but suddenly every scene, every word, every interaction is essential, and I publish it all anyway. This is unbelievable.
> 
> And also, good news everyone! As you can see, there's a final chapter count now, because I have finally completed my detailed outline. This should end up being about 20 chapters and an epilogue; I didn't plan to have such a nice round number, but I'm happy about it anyway. Thank you all!


	7. Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter takes places over the course of about 40 minutes. Crazy, huh. Also, I've gone back to date all the chapters! Time is going to start moving a little faster, so this is a far more elegant solution than "three weeks later," don't you agree? I'm using the 2020-21 calendar because it's easy, but this... obviously does not take place in the actual year 2020 lol. If only.
> 
> And one more thing! This is chapter is for Armansky1, who seems to be a newer reader/reveiwer? Welcome, I'm very happy to have you here 💕 I hope you enjoy!

_Wednesday, September 23 rd_

_10:12 PM_

The thing about working at the library, was that the library operated on a 24 hour schedule Sunday through Friday, so students could study or print or just hang out at any hour of the day, to their little hearts’ desire.

Rhaenys didn’t mind overnight shifts, and if anything, she kind of liked them. During the day, she had the librarians breathing down her neck to actually do all that stuff she was being paid to do in the first place. But at night, it was the grad students who were in charge, who all had their own shit to deal with and so for the most part, trusted them to manage their own time. In theory there was always something to do, but in practice… well. Just do the easy stuff and don’t dick around too much.

She’d hit snooze twice and would have done it again if not for Balerion fully smacking her in the forehead and startling her to alertness. She jerked up and snapped on her bedside lamb. He blinked at her innocently.

“You’re so mean to me,” she mumbled, forcing herself to roll out of bed. _Waking up is always the worst part,_ she reminded herself, as she threw on the first work-appropriate clothes her hands touched, a faded yellow (“gold”) KLU sweatshirt and powder blue corduroys that used to be Tyene's, warm clothes because the library was _freezing_ at night. Dragging herself to the bathroom to wash her face and brush out her eyebrows, she noticed Brienne’s door was closed, with no sliver of light that suggested she might be awake behind it. _Huh,_ she noted absently. _Must’ve been a rough day._

She washed her face, brushed out her eyebrows, and swiped some color across her cheeks. Now presentable, she dragged herself into the kitchen in search of dinner. “My brain is fried,” she whined as she yanked open the fridge. “Do you think Asha would mind if I took a Red Bull?”

Arianne, wrapped in a jade-colored silk robe, just frowned from her spot at the counter. “I thought you had work at midnight.”

“I fucking wish.” Rhaenys pulled out a few containers of leftovers. “Red Bull?”

“You better replace it,” Arianne said after a moment, drumming her fingers against the counter. She tended to drift around the apartment when studying, too restless to stay in one spot for long, and would probably end up on the living room floor within the hour. “Don’t bother her, she’s been in her room for hours working on some project, didn't even come out to watch Survivor. I heard her yelling at someone on the phone earlier.”

“Noted.” Rhaenys quickly made her plate and while that was heating up, left a slightly cramped note on the dry erase board that took up most of the freezer, beneath the grocery list, who had last taken out the trash, a reminder that _if you’re reading this, you may have shit in the dryer,_ and a tally of who owed who money: _Asha—was in desperate need of caffeine. will bring u 2 tomorrow. love, Rhaenys_ _❤_ “And what are you working on?”

“Trystane’s birthday,” Arianne muttered, going back to her laptop. She’d switched out her contacts for her glasses, just as she did every night at 9 o’clock sharp, and when she talked, Rhaenys could see the thin silver band of her retainer running across her teeth. “Can’t believe my baby brother’s turning _thirteen_ and I’m going to miss it.”

“Aw, Arianne.” Rhaenys rounded the counter to wrap her arms around her cousin. She would have rested her chin on the top of her head, but Arianne had thrown her hair up in a massive towering bun, so she had to stoop to plunk her chin on her shoulder instead, pressing their cheeks together. “You’ll be there in spirit.”

“Yeah, sure,” Arianne said, lifting a hand to pat Rhaenys on the cheek. “Apparently he recently told our parents that a party at the Water Gardens is too babyish for a teenager. Of course, I called this weeks ago, but they didn’t listen to me. And now there’s a scramble.” She shrugged, jostling Rhaenys. “Hm.”

Rhaenys smiled slowly. The microwave beeped, and she went to retrieve her food before taking a seat at the short end of the counter. “But you already had a contingency.”

“Always.” Arianne smiled back, her expression satisfied. Rhaenys cracked open her Red Bull and by force of habit, sniffed it. “It’ll be a little bit of everything. There’s the pool, video games, all that little teenage boy stuff. Uncle Oberyn’s going to drop some tents and sleeping bags off so they can camp out in our backyard, because you know how my mom gets when there's too many people in our house.” She laced her fingers together on the countertop. “It’s gonna be cute, they’re all gonna have fun.”

Aegon had done something similar for his 13th birthday, though Rhaenys had missed most of it, fleeing for Sarella’s house soon after the reality of a dozen seventh grade boys overtaking her home really set in. “Sounds very… hands off?”

“That’s the intended illusion, yes,” Arianne said. She tilted her laptop toward Rhaenys who, more focused on her dinner, only gave the spreadsheet on the screen a cursory, polite glance. “I’ve taken care of pretty much everything. I’m going shopping for the last of the physical things this weekend, packing everything in a box with very clear instructions, and sending it to your house where Trys can’t intercept it.”

“I love it,” Rhaenys said, pushing together a little mountain of cabbage she proceeded to smush down with her fork. “And I’d love to help, but I’m already volunteering this weekend. So best of luck.”

“Oh, I’ve already done half a dozen of these, I don’t need help. And stop playing with your food, you’re making me sick.” Arianne pulled her laptop back to her, while Rhaenys obediently shoved her fork in her mouth. “Remember? All of those freshmen welcome events. It’s not that I don’t trust my coworkers, I just had a lot of great ideas, especially for the smaller events. And if I couldn’t be there to see it come to fruition, this ended up being the next best thing.” She picked up her phone. “I’ve got pictures if you want to see them.”

Rhaenys leaned over, watching Arianne swipe though the photos of neatly labeled boxes with neatly labeled contents, then photos of tables and rooms with those contents and instructions fully realized. She’d been to many an Arianne Affair over the years (she’d had a hand in almost every major Martell event of the past decade), and each of these pictures had that undeniable flair characteristic of her cousin. “Huh,” she said, reaching out to take the phone so she could look closer. “That’s pretty cool, actually. And you weren’t at any of these?”

“No, but it’s really not much.” Arianne took her phone back. “You know those party kits? It’s just a little more involved, nothing groundbreaking.”

“Still,” Rhaenys said, sliding out of her seat to rinse her plate and stick it in the dishwasher. “I know it’s your job, but that’s really cool. Are you going to do more?”

Arianne shrugged, like it hadn’t occurred to her. “If I have to, maybe.” She looked through the photos again with new interest, before glancing up at Rhaenys, half-skeptical. “You really think they’re that great? I just sort of threw them together.”

“Well, if that’s true, that just makes them even better! Arianne, come on, what are they teaching you in those business classes? Aren’t you supposed to be like… entrepreneurship-ly minded? This could be a hit!”

“I believe the word you’re looking for is enterprising,” Arianne said wryly. “Which yes, I am. But this isn’t the ‘hit’ you think it is, trust me. Maybe in ten years, once I’ve founded my own events agency or otherwise made a name for myself, but right now I don’t have time to cultivate a ‘hit’ that’s probably going to flop because no one knows who I am. Don’t you agree?”

“I disagree, actually,” Rhaenys said simply, folding her hands behind her back. “But fine, you’re the market expert. I have to brush my teeth and get to work. There’s a problem set that’s been calling my name.”

Arianne waved her away. “I should get back to studying, anyway.”

Once her teeth were clean and her breath minty fresh, Rhaenys stopped by her room to grab her backpack and kiss Balerion on the head. “See you in the morning,” she whispered, before heading back out, going straight to the door to slip her shoes on. Then she paused.

They kept a shoe rack by the front door, about big enough for each of them to keep two pairs within easy reach, the shoes they wore most frequently. Rhaenys currently had her Docs and her Reeboks, there were Asha’s work boots and black Nikes, Arianne had her heels and a pair of strappy sandals, but Brienne… there were only her Adidas. Her gorgeous new blue and white sneakers, which Rhaenys always took a moment to admire, were missing.

“Uh, Arianne?” she asked. “Is Brienne not home?”

Arianne’s typing slowed. She lifted her eyes, looking at Rhaenys over her glasses, and it took her half a beat to ask, “What do you mean?”

Okay, what a weird way to respond to a very straightforward question. “Her shoes aren’t here,” Rhaenys said, pointing. “Did she not come home?”

“Oh.” Arianne went back to typing, but it was stilted now. “She’s probably at study hall.”

Rhaenys checked her phone. 10:38. “I thought study hall ended at 10?”

“Then she probably went to the library,” Arianne said without looking up. “Maybe you’ll see her there.”

“Uh.” Rhaenys frowned slightly. “She didn’t call or anything?”

Arianne went on typing. “Should she have?”

Okay. What the hell? “Arianne,” Rhaenys began, then paused. “Is there something—”

The lock turned and the front door opened, the knob hitting Rhaenys right in her hip. “Ow,” she moaned, hunching over. “Brienne!”

“I didn’t know you were back there!” Brienne said, sticking her head inside. She frowned. “I thought you had work at midnight.”

“Clearly not. You’re not even going to apologize?” Rhaenys complained. “Where were you anyway?”

“Study hall.” Brienne scooted her way past, only pausing to slip off her shoes. “Arianne didn’t tell you?”

See, perfectly straightforward. “No. She was being a fucking weirdo about it.” Rhaenys stuck her tongue out at her cousin, who just pulled a face back. “But study hall ends at 10?”

“Got dinner after.” Brienne opened the fridge and crouched down, disappearing behind the door. “You’re about to be late for work.”

A thought wriggled in the back of Rhaenys’s mind but refused to make itself known, so she brushed it off. Arianne was just getting to her. “Well, good night to you too, I guess,” she said, turning back toward the door to tug on her sneakers. “See you guys tomorrow?”

“Good night,” Brienne said, still behind the fridge door.

“Don’t forget your drink,” Arianne said, pushing the can toward her. “She’ll be even more pissed if you waste it.”

“Tell Asha I love her,” Rhaenys cooed, picking up her still mostly full can (maybe she should have just made coffee). “Bye!”

It was usually a toss-up as to whether Rhaenys drove or took the bus at night. On one hand, the bus could get kind of sketch as it got late, but on the other, it let her off right at the library and was obviously cheaper than parking in the deck, which was a few minutes’ walk (though admittedly through one of the brightest and busiest parts of campus, with only the dorms beating it out). Tonight, though, it didn’t matter what she wanted; Brienne came home on the bus Rhaenys should’ve taken to campus, so she was shit out of luck. Driving it was.

Singing softly along to the radio, Rhaenys let her thoughts drift to her ever expanding to do list. She had programming homework she’d been ignoring and was due in about 24 hours, so she’d just do her best to knock it out tonight. Then she had office hours at 8 AM, which she was half dreading even though she really, _really_ needed to go. 11-5 was so annoying. She’d probably take a nap on one of the couches in the basement or sleep in her car or something in the meantime. The coffee shop she liked, the one Tyene used to work at, didn’t even open till 6.

She took another sip of battery acid in a can (honestly, trying to figure out exactly what she was tasting was a little game in and of itself) and flicked on her blinker for about half a second, already moving into the right lane. She’d always thought it was hell to drive in Sunspear, but that had nothing on King’s Landing, where turning on your blinker too soon could get you run off the road. It was kind of a miracle she’d gone this long without getting in an accident, honestly.

The person she _tangentially_ cut off beeped their horn, their lights shining brighter in her rearview mirror as they grew closer, but Rhaenys ignored it. There’d been plenty of room, but as aggressive as drivers here were, they could also be annoyingly sensitive, taking everything as a personal affront. Whatever. They’d get over it.

Until they made the same right turn she did.

 _Huh._ She took another sip of Red Bull, watching her mirrors more closely now. The driver had pulled back. _Okay, sure. Just a fluke._

She turned onto the main road of campus, then checked her mirror. A few seconds later, the car followed.

 _Shit._ She turned down the radio, then took another sip of Red Bull, vaguely recalling those road rage videos they’d been forced to watch in driver’s ed back in high school. Not really knowing what else to do, she headed for her usual parking garage.

 _At least they aren’t on my bumper,_ she figured, glancing up at her mirror again. _Can’t be that mad if they aren’t tailgating me. Maybe they’re going to get some late night studying in._

Still, she unclipped the pepper spray on her keys. Just in case.

Rhaenys turned into the parking garage, but when she pulled up to the barricade, where she’d usually press the button for her ticket and make her merry way inside, she stopped and waited, watching her mirrors. The parking attendant was just on the other side, safe in his booth, a potential witness.

A few seconds later, a black car pulled in behind her, beneath the garage’s fluorescent flood of light. Rhaenys waited, mentally going down every disarming technique she'd learned at her uncle's gym as her fingers tightened around the pepper spray.

Then the door popped open, and Robb Stark stepped out.

Relief was first. Then it was promptly overtaken by rage.

His mouth was moving, probably in apology or explanation, but frankly, Rhaenys could not give less of a shit as she pushed her door open, just barely missing the ticket dispenser, and stormed over, already yelling. “Robb, what the _fuck?_ You scared the shit out of me! What the hell? Are you fucking insane?”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry!” Robb’s hands were up in a placating gesture, his door between them. He was so lucky that door was between them. “I recognized your car and I just—I wasn’t thinking, I’m sorry. I tried to pull back, but we were going to the same place.”

The parking attendant was furiously tapping on the window, and though the intercom was kind of staticky, Rhaenys could just about make out, “Do I need to call campus police? I’m calling campus police!”

Calming breath. Calming breath. “It’s fine, thank you, I know him,” she called, even as she shot Robb a scowl. He had the decency to look chagrined. “We’re going, thanks.”

The attendant looked from her to Robb and back again. “Are you sure?”

Rhaenys raised her eyebrows at Robb: _Say something, you asshole!_ “We’re fine,” he said, slowly getting back into his car. “Thanks.”

She punched the button for a ticket before getting back in her car. She made sure to slam the door.

Rhaenys backed into a spot on the main floor of the garage, as close as she could get to the door. Robb drove past, ignoring two nearby spots including one directly across from her, and she honked. He hit the brakes. She honked again, wondering if he’d take the hint.

He did. His reverse lights lit up, and Rhaenys watched him back up, until he could back into the spot across from her. She got out of the car. He got out of the car.

“You can’t just scare me like that and then try to avoid me,” she called, crossing her arms over chest. Her Red Bull was half finished now. “Like you said, we’re going to the same place.”

“I thought you might need a minute,” Robb said, sounding sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry again. I just got excited. It’s my first overnight.”

She stared him down for a moment longer, but impressively, he didn’t shy away from her gaze, even despite the pink spreading across his face. She wasn’t really mad anymore, she realized. He was dumb, yeah… but he got excited seeing one of the few people he knew on his first overnight. They’d been getting along better, though they’d only had maybe a handful of shifts together over the past few weeks. Could she really blame him?

 _Absolutely,_ that little stubborn voice in the back of her mind said. She ignored it.

“…it’s fine, really,” she said, looking away first—not because she had to, but because one, they were definitely going to be late for work the longer this little showdown persisted, and two, he certainly wasn’t going to. As her eyes slid over the sensible black Subaru he was driving, she realized she recognized it, from the times she’d seen it pulling into her grandmother’s driveway. “Isn’t that Jon’s car?”

“Uh.” Robb glanced over, before looking back up at her with kind of a crooked smile. “Yeah, I’ve been borrowing it. Physical therapy.”

 _Right. That._ Rhaenys started walking toward the door. _Be nice. Be nice._ “How’s that going?”

“Good.” Robb fell into step beside her, but still kept some distance—more than was strictly necessary, honestly, though she immediately banished that thought. “My therapist started me on the underwater treadmill.”

She noticed his voice had dulled a little. “You don’t sound happy about that.”

“It’s…” As they stepped out under the night sky, Robb looked over at her, a faint line between his eyebrows. “You did aquatic therapy, right? Did you like it?”

Okay, so he wasn’t a fan. “It was fine, I guess?” She shrugged. “It’s been eight years, Robb, I don’t remember.”

“Forgot you were an old pro.” He chuckled, looking forward again. “I just don’t really like it. It reminds me of…" He exhaled slowly. "You know when you have a nightmare, and you’re running, but you can’t _really_ run? I know it’s dumb, but—”

“It’s not dumb,” Rhaenys said automatically. It was warm, too warm for a sweatshirt, and she wrapped her hands around the Red Bull can, still a little frosty. “Is it really that bad?”

“It’s only my first week. I’ll get over it.”

Like most people, Rhaenys occasionally had a poor brain-to-mouth filter. So that was what she blamed when she blurted out, “Do you get those kind of dreams a lot? The running away kind?”

Robb looked over at her again. At some point, they’d moved a little closer together—not close-close, just normal, friendly people close. “Sometimes,” he admitted. “More, lately. Ever since, you know—” He mimicked the sound of a break, even though an ACL tear was more of a snap, or a pop. She got the message, though.

Obviously she’d asked the question because she wanted an honest answer, but she still expected him to lie. Who just told random people the truth about shit like that? That was what friends were for. Or hells, Jon, this was exactly what _Jon_ was for; she knew he’d broken his wrist badly a few years ago, he’d been in PT for forever just trying to learn how to use it again. It wasn’t the same, but he could relate, right?

But she was the one who asked, so now she had to handle it. Besides, what did she know? Maybe he was telling people and she was the last on the uptake. _No, stop, chill._ She exhaled. “You should talk to your physio,” she said. “That’s what they’re there for. You guys can figure something else out, even if it’s just for a little while.”

Robb was already shaking his head. “It’s—”

“It’s really shitty, is what you were going to say,” Rhaenys said. “Right? It’s really shitty and it sucks, but that doesn’t mean you just have to deal with it. Okay?”

They’d almost reached the library by now, and Rhaenys slowed her pace, waiting for his answer. This conversation wouldn’t continue inside, she knew, not under the bright lights or amidst their coworkers, and that was even assuming they were assigned to the same general area. It had to be now.

"I had garbage sleep for weeks," she went on, just to fill the quiet, sensing Robb slow his pace to match hers. "And I was in such a bad mood, all the time. Like, I get it. It's shit. It sucks."

“Yeah,” he finally said. “You’re right, it does suck.”

“And?” No more slowing down anymore. Rhaenys stopped, and faced him fully. “What else?”

He kind of winced, like he was embarrassed to admit it, and pushed his hands into his pockets. _Boys._ “And I don’t have to deal with it.”

If Robb was anyone else, this was the part when Rhaenys would have squeezed a hand or a wrist, or maybe given him a pat on the back. She really didn’t know him all that well though, and actually… wasn’t she supposed to be keeping her distance anyway? This was veering into very familiar territory. She needed to take a step back.

Still, unable to stop herself, she reached out and… touched his elbow. Just a light little tap. Her fingers were damp and probably cold, and Robb was just wearing a t-shirt. He looked down, at the spot where she’d touched him, then back up, into her eyes.

Definitely weirder than just squeezing his wrist.

_Defuse. Defuse!_

Luckily, her stupid little frozen brain didn’t have to put in the legwork (too distracted by the faint wash of freckles over his nose she’d never noticed before, surely). She heard the familiar rumbling roar of wheels on pavement, and instinctively stepped out of way, Robb doing the same. Ellery Vance whizzed past on his skateboard, hopping off only feet from the library doors. “Gotta get my coffee,” he said over his shoulder, ripping the door open. If he cared to know why two of his coworkers were just standing around outside doing absolutely nothing, he didn’t show it. “You guys coming?”

“…yeah,” Rhaenys said, stepping forward to grab the door, Robb coming in behind her. The moment was done. It was over.

Ellery hurried through the library just short of breaking into a run, and as Rhaenys followed him at a more manageable pace, Robb caught up to her again. “King’s closes in two minutes,” he said under his breath; King’s Koffee was the very creatively named cafe on the main floor of the library. “They’re not really going to take his order, are they?”

The hell had she been thinking, moment over? There was no moment, just two coworkers talking about bullshit. _Stop being such a weirdo._ “You have to make friends with the baristas,” she whispered back. Normal. This was better, normal. “Then you can text someone your order ahead of time. As long as you can pay before the clock strikes 11 and the registers are shut down, you’re good.”

“Oh,” Robb said, then, “You think you could introduce me?”

They’d reached circulation, and Rhaenys smiled at the faces behind the desk. “Sure,” she said, pretending not to notice Sam’s surprised expression. “Next time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote a solid chunk of this in one day, oops! Maybe I really am picking up speed. (However, will I ever stop updating in the middle of the night? Perhaps not.)
> 
> And if you enjoyed, please leave a kudos! It means a lot 💕


	8. Happy Birthday!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isn't this supposed to be the happiest day of the year? What the hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am posting this just ahead of this fic's one year anniversary, and what better subject matter than a birthday? We love coincidences.
> 
> In honor of this one year anniversary, this chapter is dedicated to all of you, for sticking by me for so long ❤️ But it is also, in particular, dedicated to KS, whose random follow up review during my 7 months of writer's block kicked my ass back into gear (even if I didn't update for 2 months after that lol whoops). And tweetstoat (on tumblr and ao3), whose econ major Jon and Rhaella as a casual art collector headcanons both found their way into this fic. Hearts to you all. Happy reading!

_Tuesday, October 13 th_

_6:22 PM_

This was how she was going to die, Rhaenys thought, staring at her screen. Her brain was going to melt right out of her ears, because she couldn’t figure out what the hell was wrong with her code. Her roommates would find her lifeless body facedown on the keyboard, her laptop fried from all the tears she’d cried before her soul evaporated from despair.

Bleak. Or maybe just dramatics.

“Balerion.” Rhaenys leaned back in her desk chair, letting her head loll around loosely and blinking at the ceiling. “Let’s trade places. You’ll go to class and go to work and do all my homework. I’ll stay here and sleep for 18 hours a day. That’s fair, right?”

She could only _sort of_ see Balerion out of the corner of her eye, curled up in his cat bed, but she was pretty sure he just yawned in response. Rhaenys slid out of her chair onto the floor, rolling over onto her back. “You’re right, I do need a break,” she said, stretching an arm out in his direction. “Come here, gimme a cuddle or I’ll die.”

Balerion blinked at her. Rhaenys made kissing sounds in his general direction until he finally got fed up and lazily made his way over to climb on top of her so she’d shut up. She wrapped her arms around him. “I love you,” she cooed. “Even if I flunk out of all my classes, at least I’ll still have you.”

Rhaenys couldn’t remember before Balerion, at least not any more than she could remember before Aegon. That he was almost as old as her brother, who—despite still being a baby—was turning 21 in a couple months, wasn’t really lost on her, but it wasn’t something she liked to think much about either. “You’re gonna live forever,” she whispered. “You’re the big 2-0 now. You can do anything.”

Balerion meowed, making her smile, and she let her head fall back. Maybe she’d take a nap, right here on the floor, and if she was lucky, have some kind of epiphany in her sleep. Better yet, her roommates could hurry up and get home so she’d have someone to bother for a little while. Or she could make dinner. She and Arianne had brought Brienne and Asha with them to the small Dornish grocery on the other side of town on Sunday (Brienne, unfailingly polite, was careful not to disturb anything, while Asha, exceedingly curious, was touching everything), so they had some pretty good stuff on top of their regular groceries. She could dick around the kitchen for an hour or two and hope that she had some stroke of genius while elbow deep in curry or more pilaf. Maybe she’d really go nuts and make roti (her mother would be proud, that was for sure). Really, she just needed some kind of mental reset. Anything would do.

Cooking sounded like a lot of work though. So she closed her eyes.

Rhaenys didn’t move when she heard the front door open, but she did listen carefully, trying to guess based on the foot falls. She couldn’t hear much of anything though, which meant it was Asha; her tread was nearly silent, so much so that she would sneak up on the rest of them regularly, allegedly without even meaning too. After a minute or so, Rhaenys heard a quiet thud, and then felt more than heard Asha walk down the hall to her room, cracking open one eye when her door was pushed open.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” Asha peered down at her, quirking an eyebrow. “You look comfortable.”

“It’s good for your back,” Rhaenys said primly, still holding Balerion. “What’s up?”

“You got mail,” Asha said. “I’m guessing it’s from your dad.”

That caught her off guard and for a moment, her brain just kind of short-circuited. Her dad. When did he even get her address? She wasn’t _keeping_ it from him, but she hadn’t even talked to him since moving in. “My dad?” she echoed. Probably Dany. Her grandmother hadn’t been to the apartment yet. _Maybe_ her mom. But probably Dany. “Are you sure?”

“You have the same name, unless there’s a third brother I haven’t heard of yet,” Asha said matter-of-factly. “It says don’t open until October 15th.”

She felt a spark of anger flare up, and nudged Balerion off so she could sit up. “Well, let’s open it,” she said, rolling over and getting to her feet. “I don’t really care what he says, so…”

Asha smiled slightly, stepping out of the way so Rhaenys could pass. “Atta girl,” she said, tugging on one of her braids.

Asha had dumped the package on the living room floor with all the respect it deserved, a decently large box that definitely had something obscenely expensive she didn’t need inside. “Ash, can you get me a knife?” she asked, kneeling by it to inspect it. Asha had been right, of course; it was from her dad, and it did say, very clearly and in multiple places, not to open until October 15th, notes that would make her smile were they from her mom, but just irritated her from him. And she already hadn’t been in the best mood.

A moment later, Asha was handing her a large knife with a wooden handle, one of the three she’d moved in with, before taking a seat on the couch. “So what’s October 15th?” she asked. “Birthday?”

“Yep.” Rhaenys broke the seal, then slid the knife along the label, slicing her name neatly in half. “When’s your birthday?”

“Hah. None of your business.”

Rhaenys glanced up at her, intrigued by this distraction. “Aw, give me a hint. What’s your sign?”

“My what?”

Yeah, figured Asha wouldn’t know something as trivial as her star sign. Making a mental note to brush up on her astrology to see if maybe she could figure it out herself, Rhaenys realized something. “Well, how old are you? I’ll be 23.”

“24.”

“Really?” That surprised her; she’d just kind of figured Asha was somewhere between her and Brienne in age (Rhaenys, like her mom and cousins and most recently brother, had taken a year off after high school, so she was older than Brienne), since she knew for sure she wasn’t a master’s student. “When do you graduate?”

“Next year.” She waved a hand. “I did a contract in the Marines.”

“Huh.” That… did not surprise her. Rhaenys turned the knife over in her hands. “Arianne’s turning 24 in a few weeks. When’d you turn 24? Or… turn 25?”

Asha gave her a wry smile. “Nice try.” She nodded toward the box. “Come on, open it.”

Right. The sooner she opened it, the sooner she could get to using it or wearing it or whatever and eventually divorce it from any and all context. She opened the flaps to reveal a pink envelope sitting on top. _To my Rhaenys._ Deliberately barely glancing at it, she plucked it out of the box and immediately handed it to Asha.

“What?” Asha inspected it. “You want me to read it to you?”

“No.” Rhaenys pulled out a box, square and flat and fairly light, wrapped in pink and orange. There was another box beneath it, wrapped in that same paper. “Just open it, see if there’s money inside. Don’t read it.” She had a shoebox under her bed at home where she kept all her cards from her dad over the years. Some she’d read, some she hadn’t, but she saved them all the same. She had another card in that box too, a yellow card with a cat in a cast on the cover, with a Winterfell return address. She began to peel the wrapping paper off the first box, the lighter one. “It’s probably a poem.”

Asha raised her eyebrows. “Okay,” she said. Rhaenys noticed she was careful not to rip the envelope, but she didn’t say anything about it. Asha pulled out the card, pink with flowers, and flipped it open only briefly, just long enough for two gift cards to fall out. “You were right.”

“He’s pretty predictable.” The box beneath was tightly packed, and Rhaenys took the knife again to hack at the tape. “Dinner’s on Rhaegar tonight.”

Asha studied her. “You talk to him much?”

“Not really.” She finally managed to get it open, and turned it over, four record sleeves sliding out. She picked one up—Hozier. “Sometimes. Not for a while. He moved to Pentos when I was a kid so we don’t really see him much anymore.” Not that they saw him much those last couple of years anyway.

“Uh-huh,” Asha said, leaning down to pick up a Rina Sawayama while Rhaenys moved onto the other box. “So what, these are guilt gifts? ‘Sorry for being an absent father’?”

Rhaenys shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said, ripping through more wrapping paper. _Who wraps gifts for their adult children anyway?_ she thought pettily. _It’s already in a box._ “Maybe. I don’t really think about it.” _Lies. Liar._ The wrapping paper fell away to reveal a vintage-looking record player and she took the knife to the box’s seal. She’d never had much of a desire for a record player before; she just had vague memories of the one in their old house on Dragonstone, and then in her dad’s apartment in King’s Landing. Dany must’ve tipped him off to the music she liked, when she was snitching about her address. _No,_ she thought. _That’s mean and unfair. Stop._ “I think he just likes to drop a chunk of change on us a few times a year because it makes him feel like a good dad. Plus tuition.”

Asha lifted her eyes from the track list. Distantly, Rhaenys wondered if he’d bothered to listen to even the first song on that album. “Sounds like guilt.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Rhaenys said again. “I just think if he really felt bad he’d do more. So.” She flipped open the instruction manual, skimming it. “It’s whatever, honestly. I get some great stuff out of it anyway, whatever he feels. Like my car!” The car that her mom hadn’t known about until it was pulling into her driveway the day before Rhaenys’s 16th birthday, which her dad had been in town for. She and Aegon had run out to meet him, asking about the Jeep, and he’d tossed her the keys, telling her it was hers. She didn’t remember her mom’s immediate reaction because she hadn’t seen it, too busy racing to climb into the driver’s seat and poke around, Aegon hot on her heels, but in hindsight, Rhaenys was pretty sure she’d only let their dad take them out to give herself time to cool off. At the time, Rhaenys had naively thought her mom was in on it, that the whole “barely 16-year-olds don’t need cars and we can revisit this in six months,” thing (which she’d been fine with anyway, it made sense) was all just part of the conspiracy.

Her dad had only taken her driving that one time. Rhaenys had been stupidly hopeful that the Jeep meant he was sticking around long enough to go with her to take her driver’s test, and he’d be impressed with the perfect score she knew she was going to get, but that had been silly. He’d flown back to Pentos on Sunday, the day after her party, and it was her mom who’d driven around with her for a week afterward while she got used to the car, and who sat with her for two hours at the DMV on the morning of her test. She didn’t much associate the car with her dad anymore, even if he’d been the one who’d bought it; it was her mom who sang along to the radio with her, Arthur who taught her to change a tire, Aegon who complained if they were even one minute late leaving for school in the mornings, Sarella who was her co-driver on all their trips up to the mountains. Even Arianne, who’d squinted and said tactfully, “It’s certainly… you,” the first time she’d seen it in the parking lot of their high school.

Rinse and repeat… oh, every year, honestly. She smartened up in time, though.

“So let me make sure I understand,” Asha said, propping up an elbow on the armrest and resting her cheek against her fist. “Your dad cheated on your ma—pregnant—with a student, knocked up the student too… and bought you a car to make up for it?”

“Close.” Balerion nudged at the box with his nose and Rhaenys turned it onto its side so he could poke around inside. “He got me a _cat_ to make up for it, five months after the kid was born. He got me a car because… good dads get their 16-year-olds death traps, I guess? I’m a great driver, but it’s not like he knew that. It’s a miracle I didn’t flip it the first year.”

Asha cocked her head to the side, clearly processing that first part. “Okay,” she said finally. “Your dad’s not shit. If I may.”

Balerion stuck his head out of the box and Rhaenys ducked down to kiss him, but he licked her cheek first. She laughed. “Wanna help me build this?” she asked, going back to the record player box. “I think it’s supposed to have legs, see?”

She and Asha were just pushing the newly assembled record player into place by the TV stand when the front door opened and Arianne entered, Brienne close behind. “Sorry we’re a little late,” Arianne sang, closing the door behind Brienne. “I thought it’d be nice to pick Brienne up from practice, but her bike didn’t fit in my car and she was unwilling to leave it there. Can you believe that?”

“In KL, overnight?” Rhaenys straightened, putting her hands on her hips. “Yeah, because she’s smart. She’s lucky her bike’s survived this long, right, Brienne?”

“That’s what I told her,” Brienne said, toeing off her shoes. “I beat her home anyway.”

Asha cackled as Arianne immediately launched into a protest about rush hour traffic and the inherent advantage of a bike lane. Brienne just unzipped her pale blue windbreaker and nodded toward the record player. “That’s new,” she said. “Did you get that today?”

Arianne paused in her tirade. “That is new,” she said, coming over and surveying the living room, still taken over by boxes and pink and orange wrapping paper. Her expression cleared, her mouth dipping into a frown. “I suppose that’s from Rhaegar.”

“Yep.” Rhaenys ran a finger along the edge. It was cute, cream and cherry red. Not necessarily a color she would have chosen for herself, but maybe one Arianne might’ve picked. “Do you know how to use one of these? I don’t.”

“I do,” Brienne said. She leaned down and picked up one of the albums of the floor, the newest Harry Styles, sliding the record out of the sleeve and placing it on the… turntable? Whatever. She offered a hand to Rhaenys. “Could I have this dance?”

Rhaenys laughed as the opening bars started up. “Sure!” she said, delighted, and grabbed her hands, both of them. “Only if I can lead.”

As Rhaenys swung Brienne around the room, careful to avoid the carnage, and Balerion sprinted for the safety of his condo, Asha flopped backwards on the couch, reaching over her head to grab one of the gift cards. “I’ll order dinner,” she said. “What do you want?”

“We’ll surprise her,” Arianne said, hauling Asha up by the arm. “Come on.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Rhaenys saw Arianne push Asha down the hall to their rooms. “I think they’re really friends now,” she said as she twirled Brienne around—she had to rise up on her toes a little, and Brienne had to duck, to get her under her arm. “Which means we’re officially all friends in here!”

“I don’t know,” Brienne said skeptically. “You don’t have to hear them fight in the mornings.”

“Better Arianne fights with her than me!” Rhaenys swung Brienne away then pulled her back. “Maybe we should fight more. I think that would really strengthen our friendship, don’t you? I know it’s hard, seeing as how we’re both perfect in every way, but I’m sure if we really tried—”

“You drink too much coffee and not nearly enough water, night showers are better in every way, and you either need to learn how to cook meat or figure out a real way to get your protein like an actual vegetarian.”

Rhaenys stopped. “Wow,” she said, vaguely impressed. “You had those ready to go.”

Brienne just smiled. “Pick one. We can argue about it now so you can get it out of your system. Or you could go pick a fight with Arianne.”

“Well, I changed my mind. I didn’t mean it.” She sighed, moving again with the music. “You take a few nutrition classes and suddenly you know all there is to know about health.”

“I think I know more than you, at least.”

“Oh, whatever.” Rhaenys swung her away again. “Alright, get ready, I’m about to dip you.”

“What? No, don’t!”

“I won’t let you fall, don’t worry. Now on three. Three, two—”

“Rhaenys!”

* * *

“Good morning,” Arianne said warmly when Rhaenys walked into the kitchen on Thursday. She was sitting at the counter, about three quarters of the way through a bagel, wrapped in a long maroon coat. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.” Rhaenys wrapped her arms around her, resting her chin on the top of her head. “We’re the same age now, so you have to be nice to me.”

“Only for three weeks.”

“Then for three weeks you have to be nice to me,” Rhaenys insisted. “You’re nice to Brienne and she’s even younger than I am. And I’m older than Brienne by more you’re older than me. Don’t you think it’s about time we were equals?”

“Hypocrite.” Arianne took a sip of espresso. “You call Aegon a baby every chance you get.”

“He’s too tall now,” Rhaenys said instantly. “I’m just reminding him who’s in charge.”

Arianne craned her head up to look at her and raised an eyebrow. “Point taken,” Rhaenys said, clapping her hands on her shoulders and straightening. “Brienne’s gone?”

“Long,” Arianne said. “She left you breakfast, though. In the fridge.”

Rhaenys let out a delighted gasp and hurried to open the fridge. “Aw,” she cooed, pulling out the absolutely gorgeous smoothie bowl (slightly melted, but that was okay) and tilting it toward Arianne. “I love her.”

“Eat it fast,” Arianne said, holding the last of her bagel to her lips. “We have to leave soon.”

“Oh, I’m not coming!” Rhaenys took her coffee press out of the fridge (she made her own overnight cold brew) to pour into a cup before taking a seat. “Got an email three minutes ago saying office hours are cancelled, apparently my professor’s kid is blowing chunks. So I have a free morning.”

Wordlessly, Arianne dropped that last piece back onto her plate. Rhaenys laughed.

After Arianne was gone and Rhaenys had finished her breakfast, she threw herself on the couch to kill time before she had to leave for work, because she’d forgotten to request the day off and hadn’t bothered seeing if anyone wanted an extra shift. Were she smart and responsible, she’d use the extra time to do what she would have been doing anyway, studying. But she was already smart and responsible; she’d woken up at 7:15 on her own birthday by choice and got burned for it. So she flicked on the TV to some random channel, the volume on low because Asha was still sleeping, and opened Twitter, intending to scroll to her heart’s content until it was time for her to leave.

Then, two and a half episodes of Family Feud later, and after Asha had finally dragged herself out of bed and left for her daily run, Rhaenys got a text from her brother: _heads up, dads about to call you._

She actually didn’t get much of a change to process that before her phone was buzzing, _Dad_ flashing at her accusingly at the top of the screen. He’d had many contact names over the years, from _Father_ to _Donor_ to _Rhaegar Targaryen,_ as a way to kind of mentally distance herself, but for some reason, it always just made her feel shittier when she saw it pop up on her screen. So back to _Dad_ it always was. No picture, no emoji. Just _Dad._

She considered not answering even though she’d been expecting this, somewhere in that back corner of her mind where she kept things she preferred to ignore. But if she didn’t, she’d be just be stewing over it for hours, and then he’d call her again later, or tomorrow, or the next day, and by then someone would have asked if she’d talked to her dad yet and she’d probably snap, so really, she should just get it out the way now, as early as possible.

“Hello?”

“Rhaenys.” Her dad’s voice was the same, it was always the same, deep and warm. He used to sing to her. Rhaenys cracked a knuckle. “Happy birthday, _ñuha dārilaros.”_

My princess. Rhaenys cracked another knuckle. “Thank you.”

Silence, for half a second too long. “How are you?” he asked. “I was told you moved. With Arianne?”

“I’m fine. And yeah, I moved.” Then, not wanting a follow up question, Rhaenys added of her own volition, “Arianne’s fine too. And the apartment’s nice.”

“Good, good.” Another beat of silence. “Any special birthday plans?”

“Nana’s taking me out to dinner later.”

“Anything else? With your friends?”

Drinks at her favorite bar tomorrow night. “Not really.”

“Well, if you change your mind, just give me a call. It’ll be on me,” he said. “Have you checked your mail recently? If not, I’d check it today.”

“Okay.”

“I’d even check it now.”

Rhaenys cracked another knuckle. One of these days she’d break her own finger. “My roommate has the mailbox key.” Another lie. They each had their own. “Sorry.” She winced.

“When she gets home then.”

“Okay.”

“I think you’ll be really excited for it.”

Rhaenys craned her head to the side to look at the record player. They hadn’t played it since that first night; maybe she’d put it on later. “Yeah.”

Another beat of silence. “Rhaenys, are you alright? You sound low.”

Imagine that. “I’m fine, it’s just early,” she said. Pentos was six hours ahead. He wouldn’t question it. “I should go, I have to get to—” She paused, remembering at the last second that her dad didn’t know she’d started working again, that he’d never liked her working at all in the first place because school was supposed to be her job and _neither of your brothers work so why should you? I’ll talk to your mother and see if we can get this sorted out._ And then she’d snap at him that she could do what she wanted and _do not talk to Mom_ and he’d sigh and let it go but it would still be a whole big thing that would definitely ruin her day. “—class.”

If her father noticed that pause, he didn’t react. “Okay, I won’t hold you,” he said, and she didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed. “Remember to check your mail.”

“I will.”

“Let me know when you get it.”

“Okay.”

“Have fun with Nana. I love you.”

Rhaenys cracked another knuckle. “I’m gonna miss the bus,” she said, even though she had over half an hour before she needed to even think about leaving. “Bye, Dad.”

“Bye, sweet—” Rhaenys hung up.

For a minute, she stayed right where she was, blinking up at the ceiling. Talking to her dad always put her in kind of a weird headspace. If she didn’t have work and then class after that, she’d probably go take a nap. Maybe she should have found someone to cover for her.

Rhaenys sat up and after a moment, stood. She’d walk it off. Her apartment wasn’t stupid far from campus. She’d make it in plenty of time. Or at least on time.

She was just leaving the building when she ran into Asha, just coming back inside. Rhaenys waved at her through the door, hurrying to open it so she didn’t have to buzz in. “Thanks,” Asha said, stepping aside so Rhaenys could come out first. “Leaving already?”

“I’m gonna walk,” Rhaenys said. “It’s nice out, isn’t it? Thought I’d enjoy it.”

Asha shrugged; she tolerated at best days like today, clear and sunny. “If you say so,” she said, like she just hadn’t run three miles for _fun._ “See you later?”

“Not if I see you first!”

Asha smiled faintly and they each took a step back, Rhaenys outside and Asha inside, the door swinging shut between them. As Rhaenys watched her round the corner to the elevator, she considered following her. Asha had class at ten, same time that she had work; she could lay on the living room floor with Balerion while Asha took her shower, and then they could take the bus to campus together. Maybe what she needed right now was to _not_ be alone with her thoughts.

Rhaenys was just about to let herself back in when her phone started to buzz in her pocket. Her first thought that it was her dad again, except that was dumb; she’d already picked up today, so he wouldn’t call her again for a month minimum, more likely not until Septmas, maybe even New Year’s. It was probably her mom.

Skipping down the steps to start her walk, she fished it out of her pocket, but it wasn’t her mom. It was Aegon. She frowned.

“Hello?”

“Hey, happy birthday,” her brother said. “You talked to Dad?”

“Yeah.” _heads up, dads about to call you._ “How’d you know he was going to call me?”

“Because I was talking to him,” Aegon said casually. “So how’d it go? I thought I’d give you five minutes.”

 _Uh. What?_ “Why were you talking to Dad?” Rhaenys asked, sharper than she meant to. “I told you to just ignore him. He’ll leave you alone.”

“Yeah, I know.”

She waited, but he didn’t offer anything else. “Okay, so what happened?”

“He kept calling me.”

Rhaenys stopped short, feeling that spark of anger again. “Okay, hold on,” she said. _So much for that Septmas chat._ “I’ll call you back in two minutes, okay? I’ll take care of—”

“No, Rhaenys, gods,” Aegon said, cutting her off. “Can’t I pick up a phone call once in a while?”

“Once in a while?” She should have nipped this in the bud months ago, back when he’d called her freaking out the first time. “Have you picked up other times?”

Her little brother was silent. Sharply, she said, “Aegon.”

“Look, I just called to make sure you were okay. I know talking to him is weird for you. Do you want to talk about it?”

So she wouldn’t like the answer, and he knew it. She started walking again, at a brisker pace this time. “Aegon. I’ll call him right now if I have to.”

“Yeah, I’ve picked up other times. We used to talk to Dad all the time, what’s the big deal now?”

Yeah, before he abandoned them for some orchestra in Pentos. “Because you told me he wasn’t bothering you anymore.”

“He only started calling again once I was back in Braavos, I swear. I didn’t lie.”

“How’d he know when you went back?” Rhaenys pressed her elbow against the crosswalk button as she came to an intersection, even though there were three other people who’d definitely already done that. She frowned, recalling her gift. “Gods, Dany must be telling him everything. I think she gave him my address too.”

Aegon didn’t say anything right away. Then, “That was me, don’t get mad at her. I didn’t know it was a secret.”

“…I’m not mad.” And she hadn’t been, just a little miffed. But even that evaporated now that she knew it’d been her brother. “Did you tell him what music to get too?”

"He’d already bought the record player. I kinda had to.”

The light changed and Rhaenys began to cross. “Don’t talk to him on my behalf,” she said firmly. “Okay? My birthday is not that big of a deal. I don’t want you to do that.”

He went quiet again and Rhaenys waited. “Okay.”

“Okay? You promise?”

“I promise I won’t talk to Dad on your behalf.”

 _Seven hells._ “Aegon. Come on, seriously?”

She heard him exhale. “I have to go, Rhae,” he said suddenly. “We can talk some other time if you want. Bye, love you.”

Rhaenys frowned. “Love you, but Egg, I’m not kidding. We’re talking about this, okay?”

“Yeah, okay, bye.”

An hour and a half later, Rhaenys was in the computer lab, aimlessly scrolling through Twitter for Web Browser and hating her life. And then, because her day really just couldn’t get any better, Jon walked in.

He stopped short when he saw her, and for a second, Rhaenys thought he’d just turn around and leave without a word. She knew he generally tried to avoid the library when he knew she’d be there, so he must’ve been desperate to walk in blind, in the middle of the day at that. She hadn’t even seen him since the party. He used to stop by around this time sometimes though, just to say hi to ~~her~~ their uncle, because he had a class nearby. They usually ignored each other. Uncle Aemon had never pressed the matter.

If he was watching, he probably wouldn’t blame her if she just ignored Jon and went back to scrolling until he gave up and left. After the morning she’d had, she deserved it.

Then Jon surprised her by taking another step toward the desk and looking at her more closely. “Are you okay?”

“What?” Was he talking to her? Did her shitty day show on her face that obviously? What did he know, anyway? “Sorry, excuse me?”

He seemed taken aback by the sharpness in her voice and _oh right, I’m supposed to be Nice Rhaenys now._ She sat up properly, to show a modicum of professionalism. “Do you need something?” she asked, trying to temper herself. She should have just ignored him.

Jon shifted his messenger bag. “I was just looking for Sam,” he said, and there was an edge of defensiveness in his voice.

Of course he was just looking for Sam. “He’s at the archives.”

Jon nodded slowly. “Is Robb here?”

“Haven’t seen him.”

“Is Gilly?”

She just raised an eyebrow.

“…okay. Thanks.” Jon half turned away, gesturing vaguely at the rows of computers. “I’ll just be a minute.”

It was pretty obvious what he needed. She leaned forward on her elbows before he could make any headway and said, “What, you need to print?”

Jon looked at her sideways. Every library assistant had that friend who always needed them to print stuff for them. Who liked paying for printing? “Yeah.”

Rhaenys glanced casually around the lab. No one was paying them much mind, no one to cry favoritism to a librarian. “I’ll print it for you,” she said, shrugging. She could be Nice Rhaenys today. “Email it to me.”

Jon just looked at her for a moment, like he thought she was messing with him. It kind of irked her, even though she’d started it by snapping at him. “R-N-Martell,” she said briskly. “T-A-R-G. At KLU dot edu. Come on, hurry up.”

There was an extra chair at the desk that definitely wasn’t supposed to be there; whoever had worked earlier or overnight or something had probably had a friend over. She’d tossed her backpack onto it, but dragged it to the ground to free it up. After a moment, Jon took the seat, but not before pulling it a few extra inches away. Good.

“Is there a hyphen?” he asked, pulling his laptop out of his bag.

“No. All one word.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Rhaenys already had her email open on the desktop, so she just watched him. Sometimes just looking at Jon bugged her, and she’d wonder if maybe she’d find him more tolerable if he looked more like their dad, instead of some walking talking Lyanna Stark clone. He didn’t even have to have the silver hair or indigo eyes—the line of Aegon’s jaw would have been fine, or the shape of Rhaenys’s nose. Something that proved it wasn’t all just some huge mix up, or a seventeen year fever dream. He wasn’t even tall.

Or maybe she would have ~~hated~~ ~~disliked~~ barely tolerated him more for it. Who could say.

He wasn’t even a Targaryen, but she had to deal with him all the same. Maybe that was why Dad had started young with Aegon, when he was too little to tell the difference.

Aegon.

“It’s sent,” Jon said without looking up. He could probably feel her eyes on him.

“Do you talk to Dad much?”

Jon’s head snapped up, his eyebrows furrowed. Loaded question, she knew, but that was why she’d asked it. If he answered wrong _—Yeah, we talk all the time, he’s basically my best friend, in fact I’m the one who encouraged Egg to talk to him more, why do you ask?—_ she’d definitely never speak to him again. She'd probably lose her fucking mind, actually. Aegon and Nana and Dany and Uncle Aemon were all bad enough. Only Viserys was in her corner, but she was pretty sure that was mainly because he had little reason to have much to do with a kid six years younger than him anyway.

Jon wasn’t answering, just looking at her warily. “I’m just asking,” she said. “Do you talk to him a lot?”

“No,” he said. “Why do you care?”

She ignored that. “So you never talk to him?”

“That’s not what you asked.”

"Fine, so when do you talk to him?”

She saw his jaw tense slightly, and half-expected him to just get up and walk out, printed essay or no. “A few times a year,” he said eventually. “My birthday, Septmas, the Solstice if he remembers…” Then he trailed off, and his expression cleared, turned sharp. “Today’s your birthday.”

He wasn’t asking—he almost sounded accusing. Rhaenys held his gaze. “Yeah.”

He looked at her a moment longer. “Happy birthday,” he said.

“Thanks.”

 _You talked to Dad?_ she expected him to ask, like Aegon had; she’d deserve it, that was for sure. Instead, Jon said, “Sucks you have to work.”

He was changing the subject. She wondered if she should let him. “I forgot to request it off.”

“Robb would have covered if you’d asked him. His Thursday mornings are free.”

She knew, she worked this shift with him sometimes. Rhaenys shrugged. “I don’t have his number.”

“Do you want it?”

Yeah, that was enough of this. “Egg talks to Dad though, right?” she asked casually, like she knew the answer.

Jon didn’t fall for it. “You should probably ask him that.”

 _Figures._ Rhaenys worked her jaw, nodding slowly. A non-answer was still an answer. Wasn’t a total waste of time and energy. “Yeah, of course,” she said. Aegon told Jon things he kept from her. Yeah, that was fine. Whatever. She turned to the desktop, reaching for the mouse. “Let’s just print this.”

A few minutes later and she was stapling his paper (it was on predatory lending, she’d noticed, and she’d realized she didn’t even know what his major was. Econ, maybe?) and handing it over. “There.”

“Thanks,” Jon said, taking it and looking it over. “You saved me fifty cents.”

 _And all it cost was the longest conversation we’ve ever had._ “No problem.” She watched him shut it inside his laptop before stuffing it back in his bag. “Sorry for holding you up.”

Jon shook his head. “This is my lunch. I still have an hour.”

“Good,” she said. Jon stood, pulling the strap of his bag over his head. “Bye.”

He didn’t leave right away. “Don’t worry about Aegon,” he said after a moment. “He’s fine.”

 _You would know, wouldn’t you._ “Bye, Jon,” she said again. “Good luck on your paper.”

He stayed a second longer, before finally turning to leave. “Bye. Happy birthday.”

Rhaenys didn’t watch him go. She just went back to Twitter.

* * *

Finish work. Go to class. Run home with just enough time to shower, slip into a pretty dress, and do something with her hair. Run downstairs to meet her grandmother. Go to dinner. Enjoy one singular birthday cocktail. Laugh. Enjoy life. So on and so forth.

Hours later, Rhaenys—now in a much better mood and all of her troubles temporarily forgotten—was unlocking the door to her apartment, her grandmother at her side. “Hello?” she called, stepping inside. “I brought a guest!”

Her roommates, Balerion included, wasted no time emerging from their various corners and Rhaenys stepped back, content to just watch them descend on her grandmother. “Hi!” Arianne sang, stepping up first to wrap her arms around her nana’s neck. “How are you?”

“I’m well, Arianne, how are you?” Nana returned the embrace before stepping back to hold Arianne at arm’s length, while Rhaenys reached down to snatch up Balerion. “Busy, I’m sure.”

Arianne laughed. “Oh, you have no idea.”

Brienne was next, reaching out to shake her hand. “It’s so nice to see you again, Ms. Targaryen.”

“Brienne, dear, I’ve told you, call me Rhaella,” her nana said, touching her arm and smiling warmly. “Rhaenys has been keeping me updated. I hear you’re on a winning streak? Congratulations.”

Brienne beamed. “Thank you.”

“And you must be Asha,” her grandmother said, turning to Asha and extending a hand. “I’m so glad to finally meet you.”

“Yes, ma’am, thank you,” Asha said, grinning as she gave her hand a firm shake (next to Rhaenys, Arianne murmured, “So she does have manners.” Rhaenys pinched her). “Does she talk about me?”

“Very much. And she’s made sure to stress where I should get my car’s maintenance done from now on, and who to ask for.”

Asha turned her grin to Rhaenys, who grinned back. “Works for me.”

“We were going to do gifts!” Arianne said, edging her way in to put a hand on Nana’s back. “Would you like to stay a while?”

“Of course.” Nana let Arianne guide her into the living room while the rest of them followed. “I’ve already told Rhaenys this, but her gift isn’t arriving until Saturday. It’s quite delicate, so I’ll be bringing a couple of friends who can hang safely and securely. Is that alright with you girls?”

“Is it art?” Arianne asked, sitting down on the coffee table, directly across from them. Nana, seated on one side of Rhaenys on the couch while Brienne sat at the other, nodded. “Do you have a picture?”

“Yes, it’s truly breathtaking. I saw it and I knew it was made for her.” Her grandmother turned to smile at Rhaenys, then took out her phone to swipe through her pictures before handing it over to Arianne. “It’s called _Ten Thousand Ships.”_

“Isn’t it gorgeous?” Rhaenys could still see it in her mind’s eye, an abstract painting of the Rhoyne River bathed in sunset, all red and orange and yellow, and Nymeria’s ships, tiny flecks, too many to count. That she was immensely excited to actually see it in person was a severe understatement; she’d almost started crying in the restaurant just seeing it on a phone screen. Even Asha seemed impressed, taking the phone from Brienne from her spot at her feet, before passing it back up to Nana.

“Well, I don’t know if any of us will be able to top that,” Arianne said good-naturedly, handing Rhaenys a small box wrapped in gold. Balerion hopped down to the floor. “But that’s from your mom. See if it comes close.” At Rhaenys’s raised eyebrow, she added, “I wasn’t going through your mail. She had it addressed to me.”

“Oh, well in that case,” Rhaenys said, using her pinky nail to lift up a flap. Beneath the gold, a white box. She opened that too, and peered inside. “Oh my gods.”

“What?” Her roommates and grandmother spoke as one, all leaning closer to get a better look, and Rhaenys pulled out a ceramic drink coaster with her and Brienne’s faces on it, cork-backed and shiny.

“Wow,” Brienne breathed, reaching over to touch it. It was an old picture, from freshman move-in day, the first time they’d met. Her mom had insisted on the picture, Rhaenys grinning broadly, Brienne’s smile close-lipped and shy, a decent sized space between them; they’d been texting sporadically all summer, sure, but _friends_ was still a little way off. “That feels so long ago.”

“Time flies.” Rhaenys handed it to her and pulled out the next one, this one a picture of her and Asha. Asha immediately began to laugh.

“Holy shit,” she said, leaning over Brienne’s knees to get a better look at it, where Rhaenys was awkwardly wielding one of Asha’s comically (and terrifyingly) large knives to cut a cabbage, Asha beside her with her hands on her hips, offering only a skeptical eye. Rhaenys had been too focused on not losing a finger to notice Arianne take out her phone, but Asha had looked up just in time to give the camera an incredibly wry look. “Where’d she even get this picture?”

“You said I could post it on Instagram!”

“Your ma follows you on Instagram?”

Her Instagram was actually public and Rhaenys opened her mouth to tell her so, if she weren’t immediately interrupted by Arianne going, “Rhaenys, see if I’m next.”

Rhaenys reached in, but the next coaster she pulled out was Balerion. Asha laughed even louder, Arianne huffed, and her grandmother reached over to take it gently from her hands. “I remember this day,” she said. “Your third birthday. You were so excited.”

“I wish I could remember it.” Rhaenys looked at her baby self, round-cheeked and with a big cheesy smile, wearing a silver plastic tiara studded with pink plastic jewels. She was holding Balerion to her cheek, tinier than she could ever remember him being, and he was looking directly into the camera, eyes large and gold and all knowing, for such a little kitten. Rhaenys looked up at the real, current him, seated under the coffee table, watching her with the same gold eyes. She blew him a kiss.

“Okay, Rhaenys, now it’s me,” Arianne said, nudging her knee. “Let’s see.”

“I don’t know,” Rhaenys teased, taking out the last coaster and holding it close to her chest. “I feel like it’s a toss-up.”

“Between who?”

“The rats,” Asha suggested.

Her grandmother frowned. “Do you girls have rats?”

“No, ma’am, we don’t,” Brienne said quickly, throwing a look at Asha, who shrugged. “She’s just kidding.”

Rhaenys shrugged too. “50/50 the rats and Arianne,” she said, seeing as there were no other contenders. “On the count of three? One, two, three!”

“Aw,” Arianne cooed when Rhaenys revealed the picture of the two of them at prom, Arianne proudly wearing her crown, having just won prom queen. “Look at us. Babies.”

“I don’t know if we should use these or just keep them as decoration,” Rhaenys mused, finally taking the little coaster holder out of the box too. “They’re like little trading cards. Trips down memory lane.”

“Oh, we’re using them,” Arianne said immediately, which Rhaenys should have figured; she was the one always bugging them to use the coasters they already had. “Maybe with your faces on them, you’ll be more inclined to actually use one.”

“We’ll see,” Asha said mildly. Arianne, picking up the other box to hand to Rhaenys, “accidentally” grazed the back of her head with it. “Ow!”

“Oops,” Arianne said mildly, putting the new box in Rhaenys’s hands, small and rectangular, wrapped in what was definitely a couple of pages ripped out of Arianne’s _Vogue Dorne._ “This is from all of us.”

“Really?” Rhaenys turned it over; it was light, and the magazine wrapping was actually pretty neat looking. “You guys didn’t have to.”

“It was Brienne’s idea,” Arianne said sweetly. Asha snorted. “But we all agreed.”

Rhaenys turned to Brienne, beaming, but she just seemed to be holding in a laugh. “Just open it,” Brienne said.

She didn’t need to be told twice. Rhaenys peeled back the magazine pages to reveal what was underneath. Her mouth dropped open. “You guys!” she complained. “This is _mean!”_

Asha and Arianne dissolved into laughter, while Brienne just covered her smile with her hand, her eyes dancing. “You, Brienne?” she asked plaintively. “I expected this from them, but you? My heart is breaking.”

Her grandmother reached over to take it from her hands and inspect it closer. “A food thermometer?” she said, then looked at Rhaenys, vaguely amused. “You’re still afraid of meat?”

"Am I the only person here who's heard of salmonella poisoning?" Rhaenys sighed. But even so, she found herself suddenly swelling with so much _love._ Love for her mom, love for her grandmother, and love for her roommates, even though the latter just _had_ to seize this opportunity to make fun of her yet again. To love and to be loved. That was this feeling. She began to laugh too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Desperately wanted to finish this before the end of the weekend bc I write better at night, which doesn't bode well when I have to wake up early during the week. Now time to pop a sleeping pill.
> 
> Drop a kudos if you are so moved ❤️ Drop a comment if you're really moved ❤️ I love you all ❤️


	9. Invitations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Invitations. Several.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Middle of the night, once again! Hell yeah.
> 
> This chapter's for WillTybur13, who I think is a new reader? Welcome, and thank you for the sweet review ❤️ Hope u enjoy this one!

_Wednesday, October 21 st_

_1:36 PM_

“Iced pumpkin spice latte for Rain!”

_Hell fucking yes. Finally._

Three other people stepped forward for her drink, because of course she wasn’t the only person ordering an iced pumpkin spice latte on an 80 degree October afternoon, but Rhaenys was faster, shouldering her way through the throng of caffeine fiends desperate for their post-lunch fix hovering around the end of the bar like sharks circling wounded prey. She snatched up her drink—to be fair, maybe there _was_ some poor soul actually named Rain in the vicinity, but in that case, these mix-ups wouldn’t happen if the baristas got her name right more often—and called a “Thank you!” to whoever was listening behind the counter. One pink head nodded at her, before plunking down another cup and shouting out the next order.

Rhaenys made her way back through the crowd toward the exit, more careful now that she was carrying precious cargo. Starbucks wasn’t really her favorite coffee place, but it was what that other gift card from her dad was for, and since it had a frankly ridiculous amount of money on it, well… waste not, want not. She still had twenty minutes before class, so she could take her time walking across campus, really enjoy her drink and the weather that showed absolutely no signs of cooling down anytime soon, even though Halloween was next weekend and parties were always best when there was a bite in the air, but—

“Shit, sorry.” The words were falling out of her mouth before she’d even registered who she’d nearly walked right into on her way out. At least she managed to save her drink, else he’d probably tell Aegon she’d dumped it on him on purpose. “Oh. Hey.”

“Hey.” Jon’s smile dropped instantly, and he stepped back, shoving his hands in his pockets. There was a guy standing next to him, the one he’d been talking to before she’d ruined it, tall and slim and (she hated herself for thinking this) completely gorgeous, deep dark eyes and black curls that fell to his shoulders, almost as long as hers and probably better taken care of. He was familiar, too, she’d definitely seen him before. But placing him was kind of second priority at the moment, because her thoughts were racing. Should she keep walking? She had to get to class. She’d been kind of mean the last time she’d seen him. Did she care? _A little. Not really._ Gods, Nice Rhaenys was exhausting. Why was she doing this again?

Right. Robb.

No, not fucking Robb! Aegon!

“So what’s up?” she asked, her scrambled brain evidently deciding to default to the polite option. _Well, shit._

What the hell was wrong with her? Chill. This was not a big deal. And to prove it wasn’t, she forced herself to smile.

Jon didn’t smile back, but she saw his expression relax. “Not much,” he said. “You?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She turned to the guy standing next to him, still trying to place him. “I’m Rhaenys, by the way.” Would it be weird if she asked? She kind of suspected that he already knew who she was, from the way his eyes had first flickered between her and Jon when she first bumped into them. _Whatever._ “Have we met?”

At least _he_ could smile. “Satin,” he said, tilting his head toward the Starbucks, a few curls falling artfully over his right eye. “I actually work here.”

“Oh, you do!” Rhaenys couldn’t help her little gasp; gods, she was such a flirt. _Focus,_ this guy knew Jon, which meant she had to behave. And he was standing right there. “I didn’t recognize you with your hair down.”

Satin laughed, sweet and clear. “I get that a lot.” He nodded at Jon. “He says the same thing.”

Right. Jon. Rhaenys looked back at him; he seemed a little disconcerted. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if he’d gotten his paper back yet, if he’d done well on it. “I should let you guys get in line,” she said. _Nice bumping into you,_ she considered, but that would… probably be a lie. She took a step sideways, because they’d been coming from the direction she needed to go in, and smiled again, close-lipped. “It’s pretty busy in there. And nice meeting you, Satin.”

“Actually, Rhaenys, before you go,” Jon said abruptly, before she could take another step. “I had something to ask you.”

Maybe he wanted her to print something again. “Yeah?”

“Robb was going to ask when he saw you, but—” He shrugged. “Anyway. We have this party at Castle Black every year, for Halloween. I know you probably have plans already, but if you want to come, you’re welcome.”

“A party?” Great. Aegon had probably put him up to this, and she couldn’t even complain because she was the one who’d started this, by inviting them to that housewarming party that already felt like forever ago. Eye for an eye, and all that. Well, wait no, actually, eye for an eye was bad. Tooth for a tooth? Gods, whatever, point was—Jon was paying back the favor. Or, depending on how he’d felt about her party, punishing her in turn. Maybe eye for an eye was right.

Jon still had his hands in his pockets, and he was still looking her right in the eyes. “Yeah,” he said. “Bring your friends if you want.”

“My friends?” she repeated, wondering if he understood who that included. “What about Asha?”

Jon paused for half a second. “Yeah, she can come.”

Rhaenys wasn’t supposed to know about the Theon thing, so she played dumb. “But won’t Theon mind?”

“Theon’s not coming,” he said, shrugging again, but she made a mental note of the sidelong glance Satin gave him. So Satin knew something too. “Don’t worry about it. And you don’t have to answer now, I just wanted to let you know. Robb will be there. Gilly, too.”

It would have been easier to say yes if he’d just let Robb ask her.

Jon was just wearing his regular sullen resting face, betraying nothing. She’d known him since he was four, but he was still hard to read sometimes. That was definitely her fault, though. He probably expected her to say no.

She could say no. It was Halloween, the biggest party night of the year, so it wouldn’t come as a surprise if she was busy. She actually did have a few options, but nothing she’d committed to, and nothing she hadn’t done before. Jon’s frat could be different, though. Even if it was weird.

“I’ll have to check with the others,” Rhaenys said. “I don’t know, they might—I’ll have to see.”

She didn’t mean to notice the way his jaw stiffened. “Yeah,” he said, shifting. “Well, whatever you decide.”

“Yeah.” She should just let it go. He was only doing it as a favor to Aegon anyway. He probably didn’t really want her to come. It’d be easier if she didn’t. It would also be worse. And things were always getting worse.

He should’ve just let Robb ask her.

She could do something nice, at least.

“Thanks, though,” she said, and before she could give it too much more thought, added, “Could you hold this for a sec?” as she shoved her drink into Satin’s hands, just so she could slip her backpack off one shoulder and get to the front pocket where she kept her wallet. “Here,” she said, pulling out that Starbucks gift card and holding it out to Jon. “Go nuts.”

Poor impulse control.

Jon squinted at it, then looked at her warily. “No thanks.”

“Why not?” She didn’t relent; if she was going to do something nice, then by the gods, _she was going to do something nice._ “I never thanked you for the tequila anyway. Dad’s treat.”

Jon’s eyebrows furrowed, just like they did the last time she’d brought up their father. “Satin has a discount.”

“Okay, so you can really go nuts. _Here.”_

Jon’s expression didn’t change, but after another moment, he took it. “Okay,” he said. “Sam can bring it—”

“You can just give it back the next time you see me.” She stuffed her wallet back in its pocket and pulled her bag back up on her shoulders, then took her cup back from Satin. “I drink too much coffee anyway.”

It was insurance, in a way. If she wanted her gift card back, she _had_ to go to that party. Hopefully Jon wouldn’t screw it up by showing up at her job in the meantime, though. If he did, she’d just take that as a sign from the universe.

But it looked like he understood. “Okay, sure,” he said, slipping it into his pocket. “Thanks.”

“Use it every day if you want. There’s a stupid amount of money on there.”

Somehow, _that_ was what shocked a smile out of him. A genuine one too, she could tell, with even a flash of teeth. “Yeah,” he said. “That’s Dad, alright.”

Right. Yeah, Dad _would_ send them all basically the same shit, huh. She smiled thinly in return. “I have to get to class,” she said, immediately squishing back that very unproductive and unhelpful thought. She stepped out of the way, so they could finally go past her inside. “I’ll see you later. And like I said, go nuts. Bye, Satin.”

She had her TV class next, the one she had with Theon, and she was looking over her notes when he sat down next to her. Not a frequent occurrence, but not an unusual one either, just whenever the fancy struck him, she supposed. The first time he’d done that, about two weeks into the semester, she was certain it was because he’d found out about Asha, but all he’d done was ask her some question about their discussion posts. By now she was used to it, but it still unnerved her a little, unable to shake the whole _you’re a liar and a terrible person_ thing. At least he never told her anything interesting enough to report back to Asha. Mostly, he just talked shit about his roommate.

“Hey,” Theon said, cracking open his Monster; he bought one before every class from the vending machine just around the corner, punching in his selection like the buttons had insulted him personally. “You get your midterm back yet?” Rhaenys shook her head. Theon sucked his teeth. “Motherfucker.”

Rhaenys smiled a little. Despite… well, _everything_ about the entire situation, Theon was so refreshingly normal. At the door, the guy who usually sat next to her rolled his eyes when he saw his seat was occupied. “Worried you flunked?” she asked.

“Cute.” Theon threw her an amused look—eerily similar to Asha’s—and tipped his head toward the young woman standing at the front of the room, talking quietly to their professor. “But the sooner I can start working on the TA for extra credit, the better. If you know what I mean.”

Rhaenys’s fingers twitched, and she casually slipped her hand under her thigh. “Good luck with that.”

“Thank you,” Theon said, either ignoring or completely missing the edge of sarcasm in her voice. He took a swig of Monster. “TAs like to party, don’t they? Or d’you think they’re too uptight?”

She wondered, briefly, if he was mocking her, but there was no way he could even know. Anyway, Theon was actually pretty nice to her; she half-suspected it was his own private _fuck you_ to Jon, talking to the half-sister he didn’t have a relationship with. Which… whatever was going on with that. “I dunno,” she said mildly. “You like to party?”

“’Course.”

“Any Halloween plans?”

Theon smirked. “Why do you ask?”

“Just because.” Class would be starting any minute now. She needed to cut to the chase, even if it was clumsy. “There’s so much going on, I’m just curious. Bars, parties, the works.”

“Oh yeah.” Theon cocked his head to the side, still smiling. “Like the party your brother’s frat throws every year, right?”

 _Nah, maybe he is a jerk._ Rhaenys smiled back. “Sure,” she said sweetly. “Are you going to that?”

He quirked an eyebrow. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking.”

“Then no, I’ve got better shit to do.”

“So why not?”

Theon studied her, still with a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Long story,” he said, leaning a little into her space. “You’ll have to earn it.”

Rhaenys didn’t lean away. She could smell the energy drink on his breath, mingling with his cologne. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Hm.” For a fraction of a second, his eyes flickered down to her lips. “I can spell it out for you.”

Rhaenys lifted her chin slightly, holding his gaze _._ Fuck subtlety. “But what if you did go?” she asked in a low voice. “What would happen then?”

Something flickered behind his eyes, almost like she’d caught him off guard. He opened his mouth, maybe to answer, maybe to deflect, but—

“Okay, everyone, I think we’re ready to get started now!”

Their professor, finally ready to do his job. And not a moment too soon, really, because Bad Rhaenys had gotten a little too powerful for a second there. “I’m not that nosy, sorry,” she said, turning to face the front of the room and folding her hands in front of her. “Thanks, though.”

Theon shrugged good-naturedly as he leaned back into his seat, out of her bubble. “If you change your mind,” he said, lifting his can to his lips, “message me on Canvas.”

She gave him a wry smile. None of it mattered anyway, she thought, picking up her pen. No way would Asha even want to go, frat parties hardly seemed like her thing. She was getting worked up over nothing.

* * *

“Sure,” Asha said, shrugging. “I’ll come.”

It was later that evening; they’d been watching _Survivor,_ as was Wednesday night tradition, and as soon as the episode had ended, Rhaenys had decided to drop her question. She had been expecting _a_ response. But she very much had not been expecting _that_ response. 

Rhaenys opened her mouth, then closed it. She paused, looked at Arianne next to her on the loveseat and Brienne next to Asha on the couch, wondering if maybe she hadn’t been clear enough. “You are?” she asked, skeptical. “I didn’t say we had to go. I just said we were invited, that was all.”

Asha put her empty plate on the coffee table, before kicking her feet up and crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back. “You said Castle Black, right?”

Rhaenys frowned. “Yes?”

“I was already going,” Asha said off-handedly. “Aly’s friends with some of those guys. Didn’t know Jon was in it, though.”

“He’s the president,” she said, half-wondering now if maybe she was just asleep. “But what about Theon?”

Asha raised an eyebrow. “You’re the one who saw him today,” she said. “Any updates?”

He implied he’d give her the whole story if she hooked up with him. Probably as a joke. But maybe not. “No. Nothing new.”

“So what’s the problem?” Asha shrugged again, giving Rhaenys a meaningful look. “At least now I know what I agreed to, unlike the last time I was under the same roof as Tweedledee and Tweedledum.”

“Asha,” Arianne said, a warning in her voice.

“Water under the bridge, but I’m just stating a fact.”

Arianne just shook her head. “I can come too,” she said. “I was thinking about a bar crawl this year, but I’ve got the rest of my life to do that. This might be my last year for a frat party.”

“Oh.” Rhaenys frowned. “You’re not canceling on anyone, are you?”

“Nah,” Arianne said flippantly. “I hadn’t even found anyone to go with me yet. All my friends graduated, remember?”

That was patently not true, but Rhaenys wasn’t going to push. “Well, okay,” she said, turning to the last of the bunch. “Brienne? No pressure.”

“Actually.” Brienne kind of grimaced. “I was also already invited. You know Mya, don’t you?”

Tall, hot Mya on the women’s basketball team, Renly’s niece, Brienne’s friend. “Yeah?”

“She’s friends with some of them too. She asked if I was interested.”

“You’re kidding.” Brienne shook her head, and Asha snorted. Rhaenys couldn’t believe this; what were the fucking odds that two of her roommates would be invited to this thing hosted by her own half-brother? What the hell. “So what did you say?”

“Of course I said I couldn’t make it.” Brienne peered at Rhaenys, then added slowly, “But now I’ll tell her that I can. If that’s what you want?”

Was it what she wanted? No, not particularly. But it seemed like she was kind of stuck now, so Rhaenys just nodded and said, “It is what I want.”

* * *

On Friday, Rhaenys finally got a hold of her brother.

“Hey, finally,” she said, propping her phone up against her water bottle so he could see her face. She was sitting on the living room floor, in front of the coffee table. It was the middle of the day, so no one else was home but her. “Long time no talk.”

“I’ve been busy, sorry,” but he didn’t sound apologetic at all. He didn’t even return the phone propping up gesture, and all she could see was was the ceiling and a mop of blue hair; he had a friend in Braavos who colored it for him, probably in a kitchen sink. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” Rhaenys, alone in her apartment, had no one to throw an incredulous look at but Balerion, who only looked back sympathetically. “You said we could talk about Dad and then you dodged my calls for a week. That’s what’s up.”

“There’s really not much to tell you,” he said. “I talk to Dad sometimes. That’s it.”

He was already getting defensive. Rhaenys knew she shouldn’t push, or else he’d shut down completely, so she took a breath. _Be the big sister,_ she reminded herself. “Okay,” she said evenly. “What do you talk about?”

Her brother moved a little more into frame, until she could see one indigo eye. An improvement. “School, usually. Sometimes he’ll ask if I need money.”

“That’s all?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” He shifted, until she could see most of his face; he looked annoyed. “What else would we talk about?”

“I don’t know,” she said, trying not to get frustrated. “I just don’t get why Dad would suddenly want to like… be Dad again. Not if he’s just talking to you about _school.”_

“Whatever, Rhaenys.” Aegon disappeared from frame completely, so all she could see was ceiling. “I shouldn’t have told you. I knew you’d freak.”

 _Well, you did tell me, so tough shit._ “I’m not freaking out,” she said calmly. “I’m just asking. I just…” _I don’t want you to get hurt._ “I just want to make sure everything’s okay. Okay?”

“I’m _fine,”_ his disembodied voice said. “It’s just Dad.”

 _Just Dad._ Rhaenys didn’t really get how he could just say that, like it was no big deal. _It’s just Dad. It’s just Jon._ “Egg—” she began, then faltered when she saw the text come in. Perfect, so she’d summoned him. “Hold on, Jon’s texting me.”

“What?” Unsurprisingly, _that_ brought Aegon back into view, a line between his eyebrows, concern written clear across his face. He knew as well as she did that Jon only had her number and she only had his for emergencies. “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know,” she said, opening the message. _Hey, it’s Jon. Can you talk? It’s about Robb. Let me know when you get this._ Her stomach twisted, and she read the message a second time, then a third. “I’ll call you back.”

“Wait, what’s wrong?” She could hear the worry in his voice. “Rhaenys, tell me.”

“Jon’s fine,” she said automatically. “He says it’s Robb. I’ll call you back in two minutes, okay?”

“Okay.”

Jon picked up before the first ring even finished, like he’d been waiting for her. “Rhaenys, hi, thanks,” he said. “Sorry, I know this is really last minute, but we’re at the animal hospital.”

“What?” She exhaled; she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding her breath. So Robb was fine, but Grey Wind… “Why, what happened?”

“Snake bite,” he said grimly. “It wasn’t venomous, thank the gods. Grey Wind’s going to be okay.”

“Thank the gods,” she echoed. She looked down at Balerion, curled against her leg, and stroked his fur. “Is Robb okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. But we’re going to be here for a few hours at least and…” Jon paused, and it kind of sounded like he was forcing the next part out. “I’m sorry, I know it’s really last minute, but Robb said he’s supposed to be at work by three.”

“I see.” Of course. Why else would she need to know any of this? They weren’t friends. “Yeah, I can cover him.”

“Really?”

“I’m not doing anything. Fridays are pretty dead, anyway.” Honestly, he probably could have gotten away without getting anyone to cover, as long as he called ahead to explain. As far as Rhaenys knew, he’d never even been late to a shift, let alone missed one altogether. “I guess he’s closing.”

“Till 7.”

“That’s closing.” Well, there went her Friday afternoon. “Anything I need to know?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Jon said. “Thanks a lot, Rhaenys. Robb really appreciates it.”

“Tell him it’s no problem,” she said. “I just hope Grey Wind’s okay.”

“Me too. Thank you again. I… I appreciate it too.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said. She paused, hesitating, then decided she might as well. “I’ll see you next Saturday?”

That definitely surprised him. “Okay,” he said after a moment. “Great. See you Saturday.”

They said their goodbyes. Rhaenys hung up. Then she called her brother back.

Like Jon, he picked up immediately, and actually held his phone so she could see his face this time. “Rhae?”

“I said two minutes, didn’t I?” She smiled at him. “Robb’s dog got bit by a snake so I’m covering his shift. I have work in—” She checked the time and grimaced. “—half an hour. Shit, I have to leave like, now.”

“Wait, is the dog okay? Uh, Grey Wind?”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine,” she said, a little absently. She’d barely talked to him for even a full minute before Jon interrupted. Unbelievable. “Look, but I could still call you later? I get off at seven, will you still be up? That’ll only be one AM for you, and tomorrow’s Saturday. We don’t have to talk long.”

“I’m going out later,” Aegon said. “If I’m up, I won’t be sober.”

 _Maybe then you’ll actually tell me something,_ she thought, but that was unfair. “So tomorrow?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

“You’ll be busy the whole day?” She couldn’t help the edge of sarcasm creeping into her voice—a mistake. “Seriously?”

Aegon’s mouth tightened. “I don’t know why you want to make this such a big deal,” he snapped. “You’re not Mom and you’re not my therapist, so why can’t you just leave me alone and let me do what I want to do? I’m not a little kid, have you ever considered that maybe I know what I’m doing?”

“I’m not _making_ it a big deal, it _is_ a big deal.” She had to try really hard not to snap back, but she must’ve failed on some level, because Balerion lifted his head to look at her. “He ditched us, remember? And just because you’re on the same continent now doesn’t mean he won’t do it again. I asked Jon, he told me doesn’t talk to Dad any more than usual, so it’s just you, it’s just because you’re there. He doesn’t mean it.”

“I. Don’t. Care. I’m not you, _I don’t care._ If Dad wants to talk to me, so fucking what? Am I supposed to ignore him just to prove a point? You do enough of that for all three of us!” He stopped, his frown deepening. “Wait, when did you talk to Jon? That wasn’t just now, was it?”

“Last week, on my birthday,” Rhaenys said evenly; if he wanted to get mad about this, whatever, but she wasn’t taking the bait. “Maybe if you hadn’t been so _busy_ I could’ve told you.”

“No,” he said. “I’ve talked to Jon, and he didn’t tell me he’d spoken to you.” His eyes narrowed. “So what, you were a dick to him? That’s why he didn’t say anything?”

Bait taken. “Fuck you,” she spat. “I know your opinion of me is really, really low, but no actually, I was perfectly nice to him. I’m even going to that stupid party you made him invite me to, so I hope you’re happy.”

“What?” he asked, sounding no less angry. “What party?”

“Next weekend, on Halloween. I know you told him to.”

“No, I didn’t,” he insisted. “This is the first I’m hearing about it.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why would I lie?” Aegon snarled, like he was talking to the biggest dunce on the planet. He dropped his phone then, and while Rhaenys mostly saw ceiling, she also saw her little brother put his head in his hands. “You’re both so fucking exhausting. I’m so fucking tired of it.”

And just like that, all anger evaporated. “Aegon, I’m sorry,” she said instantly, wishing she were a better person, a better sister. “I am, I’m sorry.”

“I’m so fucking tired,” he repeated, and she heard him sniff. “Jon said the same thing when you had your party, he was so pissed because he thought I put you up to it. And he still didn’t want to go, even after I told him I didn’t.” He sniffed again. “It’s so—I just have to hope and cross my fingers that you guys aren’t lying to me. Because you both lie, all the time. Only Uncle Aemon told me the truth, but he’s dead now.”

“Don’t say that!”

“It’s true!” Aegon snapped, even as his voice wavered. He let out a long breath, and took another moment to speak again. “I know I’m being selfish. But why can’t I just want this _one stupid thing?”_

“Aegon—” Her voice broke and she blinked back tears. “I’m _sorry.”_

“No, it’s fine.” He disappeared completely; she heard his chair scrape against the floor. “I have to take my contacts out.”

“I told you, I’m going to his party,” she tried again. “I promise I’ll be nice to him. I swear.”

“You know what wouldn’t be nice?” Aegon’s voice was distant, tired. “If Robb loses his job because the person he got to take his shift doesn’t show up.”

“Egg, come on. Please.”

“I’m not mad, Rhaenys,” he said tonelessly. “But you have to go.”

All she could see was his ceiling. “Okay, I’m going,” she said. “I love you.”

A pause. “I love you too. Bye.”

Aegon never came back into view, so she was the one who had to hang up.

* * *

When Rhaenys got to the library (late), she asked if she could shelve. She hated shelving books, because it was boring and monotonous and she actually liked talking to people, but for once dragging a cart up and down the stacks while no one bothered her actually seemed like the least misery inducing option. She used her hair to cover her earbuds, turned her brain off, and got to work.

When she got home, Brienne was just heading out. “Oh, hi,” her roommate said when the elevator doors slid open. “I was worried I’d miss you. Work?”

“Yeah, I picked up a shift,” Rhaenys said. “You’re leaving?” Brienne nodded. “I didn’t see Renly’s car.” Not that she’d been paying much attention to any of her surroundings, really, but she was sure he would have at least honked if he saw her getting off the bus.

“He’s going out with Arianne later, I got another ride,” Brienne said, adjusting her bag. “We’re going to Gulltown. If you want to watch, it’s at 3:30.”

“I’ll turn it on.” Rhaenys stepped forward, wrapping her arms around her tightly. She’d been wanting a hug for hours—from her brother, or her mom, or Arthur, mostly, but none of that was possible, and Brienne was just as good. “Good night, I love you.”

Brienne paused for a second, before hugging her back. “I love you too,” she said. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, totally, it’s just been a day.” Rhaenys gave her one last squeeze before pulling back and smiling up at her. “Go kick ass. We’re winners, remember? And if the hotel has fancy soap—”

“—I promise to bring you one,” Brienne finished. She smiled too, but it was tinged with concern. “I’ll call you before I go to bed?”

Something to look forward to, finally. “I’d love that,” she said. “I’ll be awake.”

Brienne gave her one last parting smile before turning to leave. Rhaenys watched her go, and once she’d pushed out the front doors into the night, turned to take the stairs up to her apartment.

“Hi!” she called as she let herself in. “I’m home!”

“In here!” Arianne shouted from her room. Rhaenys slipped off her shoes, dropped her backpack off at the couch, and followed her voice. Balerion appeared suddenly, going straight for her ankles, and she stopped only long enough to scoop him into her arms, before shouldering open Arianne’s door and collapsing on her bed.

Arianne, seated at her vanity to do her makeup afresh, glanced over. “Long day?”

“You could say that.” Rhaenys squinted at her. “Brienne said you’re going out.”

“Realized it’s been a while since I really had fun.” Arianne shrugged, going back to her mirror. “You wanna come? I won’t be ready for a while.”

“No, that’s okay,” Rhaenys said. Just the thought of going out kind of gave her a headache. She’d probably wind up crying in some gross seedy bathroom within the first hour. “I’m pretty tired. Where’s Asha?”

“You just missed her,” Arianne said, carefully carving out her eyebrows. “Probably headed out to be a menace to society.”

“Don’t be mean.”

“I’m being honest.”

“Oh, whatever,” she said, absently rubbing a thumb over Balerion’s head. “So I’m home alone tonight? Or is she coming back?”

“I don’t think so, so yes, you’re home alone.” She gave her a wry look. “You can have some friends over if you want. But I expect to find this house in the same state that I left it.”

Rhaenys grinned. “Thanks, Mom,” she sing-songed. “But nah, I think it’ll just be me and this guy tonight.” She hummed. “Maybe I’ll catch up on _How to Get Away with Murder.”_

“No,” Arianne said sharply. “Don’t do that, I’m still behind.”

“Still? Come on, Arianne.”

“I’m sorry, did you forget I’m a working grad student? I have priorities.”

“Stay home with me then, we can catch up together.”

“Or you can come with me, then you won’t be tempted. It’ll be fun.”

Rhaenys made a face. Arianne laughed. “Fine,” her cousin said, stretching over to pinch Rhaenys’s cheek. Balerion reached up to bat at her wrist. “But just remember every episode you get ahead is another you can’t talk to me about.”

“I’ll talk to Renly. We can bond without you.”

“I’ll make you both regret it.”

Rhaenys reached up to pinch her cheek in turn, but Arianne dodged back, laughing. “If you smudge my makeup, I’ll kill you.”

Rhaenys laughed too. “I won’t, I promise,” she said, sitting up so she could reach for her cousin again, properly this time. Arianne relented, until Rhaenys could wrap her arms around her neck and pull her close. “Thank you for letting me move in with you.”

“What?” Arianne sounded surprised, even as she wrapped her arms around Rhaenys’s waist, resting her chin on her shoulder. “Yeah, of course.”

“And thank you for letting Asha move in too.” She squeezed her tighter, breathing in her conditioner—jasmine and coconut, she was pretty sure. “Even if I didn’t give you a choice.”

“You really didn’t,” Arianne muttered, and Rhaenys felt her gently tug on her hair. “What’s up with you today? Sap.”

“Is loving people a crime now?” Rhaenys sighed. “I’m two for three on roomie hugs. Too bad Asha’s not home.”

“She’d shank you.” Arianne kissed her cheek before pulling away, studying her. “You’ll really be okay here by yourself?”

“I won’t be alone!” Balerion had retreated to the edge of the bed to escape the cousin crunch, so she just gestured at him. “Can’t a girl just remind people she loves them just because?”

Arianne reached out to brush some hair off her forehead—she really was _such_ a mother. “I love you too,” she said. There was a stripe of bare skin on her cheek, which meant there was a stripe of foundation on Rhaenys’s hoodie. “Well, if you’re not coming, do you want to pick out my outfit? I haven’t decided what I’m wearing yet, so…”

“Really?” Rhaenys had wished for years that she and Arianne were the same size, because Arianne had a killer wardrobe; she had to settle for poaching from Nym’s closet instead. But dressing her would be nearly as good. “I can pick anything?”

“I still have veto power,” Arianne said, returning to her reflection to fix her foundation. “But sure, why not.”

Rhaenys absolutely didn’t need to be told twice.

* * *

An hour later and Arianne was gone. Annoyingly perceptive, she’d asked Rhaenys twice more before leaving if she was sure she didn’t want to come, or if she’d be having anyone over, but Rhaenys had held firm. Honestly, she didn’t really know why she was being so stubborn about it; she didn’t mind being home alone, she was home alone all the time, but maybe sitting at home on a Friday night when her brother was mad at her and she couldn’t stop thinking about it was… not the best idea.

She was sitting on the living room floor in her pajamas, eating leftovers and considering cracking open a hard lemonade or something that could get her to relax a little. Since Arianne had banned her from her top choice show, she was only half paying attention to an episode of _Grey’s Anatomy_ instead. She might have skipped a season, actually, because she had no idea what was going on. Where the fuck was Cristina?

Maybe she should have gone with Arianne.

Aegon was probably asleep.

“I can’t do this,” she muttered, reaching for the remote. She had no idea what was happening. She’d just watch a few episodes of _Murder_ and lie if Arianne asked.

She was just about to start the episode when her phone buzzed. Rhaenys dropped the remote and snatched it up immediately, certain it was her brother.

It wasn’t. Of course.

 **Unknown Number:** _Hey, I just wanted to thank you personally for covering for me today, you saved my life._

 **Unknown Number:** _Jon gave me your number, I hope you don’t mind._

 **Unknown Number:** _Sorry, it’s Robb Stark by the way!_

She frowned a little. Robb Stark was texting her.

 **Me:** _no problem, it was slow anyway_

 **Me:** _how’s grey wind?_

He answered right away. _He’s doing really well! The vet gave him Benadryl so he’s mostly been sleeping since we got home. Just holding down the fort here._

Interesting.

 **Me:** _im really happy to hear that!_

 **Me:** _hope ur million roommates aren’t making too much noise for him_

 **Unknown Number:** _lol_

 **Unknown Number:** _No, we’re home alone haha. All my roommates are on the hockey team, they’re on a bus to Gulltown rn._

 **Unknown Number:** _Just me and gw!_

 **Me:** _no shit, really?_

 **Me:** _brienne’s playing gulltown too!_

 **Unknown Number:** _Wow, what are the odds_

 **Unknown Number:** _Do you know what school?_

 **Me:** _ill find out tomorrow when i tune into the game_

 **Unknown Number:** _The guys are playing u of v, maybe klu will get a double victory_

 **Me:** _crossing fingers!_

She took a bite of food, thinking as she chewed. The typing bubble popped up, then disappeared. She sent another text.

 **Me:** _balerion and i are home alone too lol i hate it_

 **Me:** _trying to find something im allowed to watch_

 **Unknown Number:** _Allowed?_

 **Me:** _ari and i are watching this show together, she won’t let me get ahead of her_

 **Unknown Number:** _Oh trust me, I get it. That’s a top 5 fight in my family_

 **Unknown Number:** _Have you found something?_

 **Me:** _not really :(_

 **Me:** _suggestions welcome_

 **Unknown Number:** _I’m still looking but I think I’m gonna watch the social network. Have you seen it?_ _The Facebook movie_

No fucking way. No fucking way!

 **Me:** _have i SEEN it? is water wet?_

 **Me:** _have u seen it?_

The typing bubble popped up, then disappeared. Then: _You’re making me feel like I should lie_

She smiled. _yes u should watch it, it’s great. i can’t believe i forgot about it_

Again, the typing bubble popped up and disappeared. Then: _Cool, so we’re both watching it?_

 **Me:** _sounds like_

Typing bubble popped up. Disappeared. Popped up. Disappeared. Finally: _If we’re both watching it, would you want to come by? We could watch it together._

Oh. Huh.

She should say no, say that she’d been drinking and couldn’t drive. Sure, she’d been sitting here miserable just three minutes ago and now she was _smiling,_ but that didn’t mean anything. It wouldn’t be appropriate for _multiple_ reasons. It might even be weird. She should really, really say no.

Balerion, sitting behind her on the couch, suddenly knocked the back of her head. “Hey!” she said, twisting around to look at him. “What?”

He just blinked at her, once, twice. Like he was trying to tell her something.

Her phone buzzed in her hand and she looked down again. _Or we could just press play at the same time and both forget I said anything! I think that sounds pretty good, right?_

Oh, fuck it. She glanced back up at Balerion, and he seemed to agree, before settling back down and closing his eyes.

 **Me:** _so u don’t want me to come over?_

A few seconds ticked by before he responded. _You want to?_

 **Me:** _only if ur inviting me_

 **Unknown Number:** _Okay, let me do it properly._

 **Unknown Number:** _Rhaenys, do you want to come by and watch the social network?_

 **Me:** _sounds fun! now?_

 **Unknown Number:** _Sure, whenever you can get here._

 **Unknown Number:** :)

 **Me:** :)

 **Me:** _send me ur address, i don’t remember where u live_

* * *

Robb’s house had a yellow front door, the paint chipped and faded. Still, she took that as a good sign.

Rhaenys barely had a chance to finish knocking before the door was pulled open, and there Robb was, right in front of her. “Hey,” he said, reaching out to push the storm door open more, holding it for her. “Welcome, come in. Uh, watch your step, sorry.”

“Thanks,” she said. It was a good thing he’d warned her, or she definitely would have missed the front door not being level with the porch for some odd reason. She stepped inside to a little foyer, a closed door to her right, stairs in front of her, and double glass doors to her left, covered in curtains—so that was what he'd meant by "getting creative with rooms." There was a pile of shoes by the front door, nothing like the neat rack she had at her own apartment. “Long time no see, dude. I was starting to wonder if you'd gotten yourself fired.”

“Yeah, it’s been a week, right?” Robb let the storm door swing shut and she stepped aside so he could lock the (yellow!) front door behind her. She’d never seen him such casual clothes before, navy joggers and a Winterfell Wolves t-shirt, and it was both strange and thrilling. “We keep missing each other, I guess.”

“I know.” She tipped her head to the side, taking in his new look. “Trying something different?”

Robb’s eyebrows knit together; Rhaenys touched her cheeks. “Oh,” he said, a hand coming up to rub his chin, somewhat self-consciously. He laughed a little. “Yeah, you could say that. It’s for Halloween.”

“You’re growing a beard for Halloween?” Robb’s hair and eyebrows were auburn, but the stubble growing over his jaw was a brighter red, almost copper. She kind of liked it. “What’s the plan?”

Robb grinned. “It’s a surprise,” he said. “You’ll have to see it for yourself.”

Rhaenys had a pretty good guess, but she figured she might as well humor him. “Guess I’ll see,” she said. “And speaking of see, where’s Grey Wind?”

“Back here, follow me.” Robb led her through to the back of the house, where the living room was. Grey Wind, his front paw bandaged, was resting on the large, U-shaped sectional that ate up most of the room. His eyes were closed, his breathing slow.

Rhaenys stepped a little closer. “You’re sure he’s okay?” she whispered.

“Yeah,” Robb said, his voice just as soft. “You can pet him if you want.”

Rhaenys wasn’t much of a dog person, and she was thinking of how to politely refuse when Robb offered a hand to her, palm up. “You won’t hurt him,” he said quietly. “It’s okay.”

He must’ve taken her silence for fear, or worry. She hesitated for a moment, then put her hand in his, palm up. His fingers closed only slightly over hers, before he was guiding her hand to the long, coarse fur at the base of Grey Wind’s neck, where she could feel him breathe. Upon contact, Grey Wind opened his eyes, looking right at her, and Rhaenys nearly startled away.

“It’s okay,” Robb said again, his hand warm and gentle over hers; she could slip away at any moment if she wanted to. “Grey Wind, this is Rhaenys. Rhaenys, Grey Wind.”

“Hi,” she whispered. Grey Wind didn’t seem very impressed by her, and after a few slow blinks, finally closed his eyes again. Robb made a small noise of disappointment.

“Vet said it might be 12 hours before it wears off,” he said, a hint of apology in his voice. “He usually likes meeting new people.”

“That’s okay,” she said. “He got bit by a snake, I think he’s allowed to sulk. Maybe next time.”

He gave her a sidelong smile. “Yeah, next time,” he agreed. His hand left hers then, so he could give Grey Wind a good proper scratch; Rhaenys didn’t mind, any longer and it might have gotten weird, anyway. “Hey, before we start the movie, do you want anything? Something to drink? We have water, juice, soda, whatever you want. Here, sit down.”

“Um, sure.” Rhaenys sat at the opposite corner of the sectional from where Grey Wind was. “Do you have Dr. Pepper?”

“Oh yeah, of course.” Robb pulled a blanket from over the back of the chair and handed it to her. “It’s clean. I just brought it down from my room.”

“Thanks.” She took it. It was gray and white and would definitely shed all over her leggings, but it was soft too, and probably warm. In the time it took for her to unfold it and spread it over her legs, Robb had returned with two cans of Dr. Pepper, handing her one from over the back of the couch. “Thanks again.”

“No problem,” Robb said, pausing at the lights. “You want these off?”

“Sure.” He flicked the switch, so that the only light in the room came from the slow moving slideshow of Netflix Originals. “I didn’t know you were such a good host.”

“What can I say, my mother taught me right,” Robb said, getting settled in the other corner, next to Grey Wind. The sectional was so big that it felt like he may as well be across the room.

Rhaenys glanced around the room, surprisingly clean and uncluttered. “I can see that,” she said. “It really doesn’t look like you’ve got six athletes and a dog living here.”

“Just don’t open that door over there.”

She laughed. “Are you excited?” she asked. “I can’t believe you’ve never seen this before. I saw it in theaters.” Andrew Garfield was probably her first big celebrity crush. Oh, to be 13 again.

“I almost watched it this summer,” Robb said, operating the remote with one hand and stroking Grey Wind with the other. “I camped out on the couch for a couple of days after surgery, so my siblings all took turns watching movies with me. Bran picked this one, but I was still pretty out of it that first day. Honestly, I probably fell asleep.”

She remembered that. For three days after her surgery, Aegon had never been very far, wanting to watch a movie or play a video game or even just read books with her. “I bet he’ll be happy to hear you’re finally watching it three months later.” She'd call him again tomorrow. Maybe they just both needed to cool off.

“Oh yeah.” He’d found the movie, but didn’t start it yet. “After this, maybe I’ll try _Florian + Jonquil_ again.”

“With Leonardo DiCaprio? It’s supposed to be archaic, I’m not even sure if you’d understand that sober.”

“Well, Sansa likes it, so.” He shot her a grin, the blue light from the TV casting shadows over his face. “You ready to start?”

She wondered if she’d still find Andrew Garfield hot. “Yeah, go ahead.”

The room went pitch black. Then they were in a New England bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These just keep getting longer and longer, huh.
> 
> Anyway, it's finally time for the chapter I've been waiting to do since I started this fic—Halloween! I'm so excited. Heads will roll, as they say.
> 
> Also! Made one last Instagram before losing my Photoshop forever, because I simply couldn't resist. https://archiejandrews.tumblr.com/post/643353235360514048/finally-cancelled-my-photoshop-but-couldnt-resist


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